Skills Award relaunch THE Dunlop Skills Award Scheme will be relaunched in November, seventeen years after its original launch, the scheme has been revised and updated for today's young people.

Its objectives remain the establishment of a solid base of accurate, consistent strokes on which to build an effective game of table tennis. It's five grades act both as an incentive to the young learner to work on different aspects of training for improvement and as a training tool for teachers, youth club leaders, coaches and anyone else responsible for bringing our future players through their early months and years.

The first grade is very much geared towards those having just taken up the sport. Acknowledgin9 early progress encourages the young player during those difficult days of not having

EXPRESS SPORTS 1992 SUMMER CAMP

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Express Sports is Britain's largest camp, which gives the best value for money. The course is held in the

beautiful county of Devon; The coaches are England's most successful tournament coaches: Malcolm Francis, John O'Sullivan, Derek Marples, Brian

Etherington, Rowdon Fullen and Peter Garvey.

Leading players on the course will include: Mathew Syed, Alex Perry, Swedish Junior girl's team.

For more information and to reserve your place please contact:

Malcolm Francis on 0825 764566 or write to 19 campbell Close, Uckfield, Sussex.

* * * * STOP PRESS. STOP PRESS. STOP PRESS Sweden's leading lady coach, will be in attendance

both weeks, with her powerful girl's team.

Children at the Cavendish School,. Hemel Hempstead, preparing for their Skills A ward

the satisfaction of being able to keep a rally going.

Working through a series of skills and training practices each grade intro­duces new strokes and a higher standard of consist­ency and accuracy.

One of the main benefits of the new scheme is the widening of the range of people able to act as Asses­sors for the lower grades. "Comparatively few young­sters have the benefit of the services of a qualified coach in their earliest development" comments Andrew Keast, Table Tennis Marketing Manager of sponsors Dunlop. "Insisting on a qualified Assessor reduces the number of young people in a position to work towards these awards. We have therefore widened the net to give more adults the oppor­tunity to assess, thereby giving more young players the opportunity to take an award" he continued.

Only the top two grades, aimed at youngsters who are working hard at improving their game, are the only grades requiring assessment by an ETTA qualified coach.

Packs of information, giving full details of what is required for each grade, together with notes for Assessors, will be available from the ETTA office by the end of November. Leaflets advising parents how the scheme will benefit their child will also be available.

A new logo, cloth badges and certificates (a different colour for each grade) are also part of the new Dunlop Skills Award scheme. Each award winner is presented with a badge and certificate to mark his or her success. Clubs, schools and other groups will also have the opportunity to display the new Dunlop Skills Award scheme poster, not only giving details about the scheme but also having a section at the bottom to write in names of local award winners.

Further information about the revised scheme, its progress and it successes will be given in these pages in future months. Full details can be obtained from Bethan Davies, Awards Scheme Administrator, at the ETTA offices in Hastings.

PAGE 2

•••••••••••••••

•• •••••••••••••

TABLE TENNIS NEWS November 1991 - Issue 202 The official magazine of The English Table Tennis Association

Third Floor, Queensbury House, Havelock Road, Hastings. TN34 1HF Tel: 0424 722525 Fax: 0424 422103

President J A Leach MBE

Chairman A E Ransome

Editor John F A Wood Editorial Office: 5 The Brackens, Hemel Hempstead, Herts. HP2 5JA Tel/Fax: 0442 244547

Advertisement Offices: Jim Beckley, Sports PR POBox 8, Cheadle Hulme, Cheadle, Cheshire. SK8 7RG Tel: 061-488 4002

Table Tennis News is published 8 times a year August/September to May/June

Subscription rates - £10 £12.30 Europe & Irish Republic £14.30 Sea Mail/£16.80 Air Mail

Subscriptions and distributions: Bethan Davies ETTA, Third Floor, Queensbury House, Havelock Road, HASTINGS. Tel: 0424 722525

Printed by: E.W. Publicity Limited, 15 King Street West, Stockport, Cheshire. SK30DT

Unsolicited articles are welcome for possible publication, but the publishers will accept no responsibility for return of manuscripts and/or photographs. Whilst every effort is taken to ensure reports and facts are correct at the time of going to press. no responsibility will be accepted by the Publishers should errors be published. either for errors or matters arising as a result.

The views expressed in Table Temtis News are those of the contributors and are not necessarily official ETTA policy. Similarly TTN accepts advertisements in good faith, but cannot accept responsibility for the goods or services described in advertisements. If you have any queries these should be addressed directly to the advertiser.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced without written pennission from the publishers.

Front cover: Masters for Masters· 12 year old Marie Masters, who is aiming for the Dunlop Skills Masters Award. Marie was also chosen to modelfora colour photograph for the Award brochure (Picture by John F.A. Wood)

Highlights of this month's issue

I' \~~ -~ -~~ ~~ _.4•

CARL ALEX STEVE PREAN PERRY DORKING Pages 8,9 Page 16 Page 17

Editor's Note ALL of those fotunate enough to be in attendance at either Bletchley or Leeds for the Eng­land versus Japan matches, were fortunate indeed to witness two matches of spectacular table tennis, resulting in a double vic­tory for England's Men's team.

On page 6 is an article on an eciting new scheme entitled 'Foundation for Sports and the Arts', which has available the sum of £60m per annum, to give away, of which £40m goes to sport and £20m to the arts.

The great surprise of last month was the statement by Deputy Chairman Stuart Sneyd that he would not be seeking re­election next year, due to the fact that he and his family will be moving to North Wales.

Good luck to you Stuart, in your new adventure!

I enjoyed my visit to The Peniel Academy on Sunday 20th October for the British League Premier Division clash between Team Peniel 1 and NFD Grove 1.

The table tennis was excit­ing and the after match food was excellent, as was the chip butty at the interval, prepared by Fiona Green.

I wish to apologise for the unusually high number of spell­ing mistakes in last month's is­sue. This was due to very late copy, and circumstances be­yond my control!

John F A Wood

TABLE TENNIS NEWS 1991/92

Publishing dates:

DECEMBER/JANUARY 15th December 1991

(Copy date 15th Nov.) FEBRUARY

1st February 1992 (Copy date 1st Jan.)

MARCH 1st March 1992)

(Copy date 1st Feb.) APRIL

1st April 1992 (Copy date 1st March)

MAY/JUNE 1st June 1992

(Copy date 30th April)

PAGE 3

Cooke at Selfridges

lWICE English and Commonwealth table tennis champion, Alan Cooke, has been invited to participate in a table tennis promotion at Olympus Sport in Selfridges on Thursday, 7th November.

The promotion will include a 'Challenge the Champion' opportu­nity when members of the public may playa game up to 11 points against Alan.

Wang at the altar

WANG XlAOMING, the French NO.1 now NO.4 in Europe married a French sports journalist in Paris three days before the England women beat France 4-1 in Caen on September 24.

Her absence certainly helped England towards victory. With Andrea Holt losing the first game to Emmanuelle Coubat, had Wang been playing the chances that England might have lost 4-3.

But, With Alison Gordon on the bench, Andrea, Lisa Lomas and Fiona Elliot were in control of the rest of the match.

Grubba to return?

ANDRZEJ GRUBBA told journalists in Bonn 'I am looking forward to playing again in England. However, my return might be delayed beyond the English Open.'

"With 1992 the Olympic Year, Poland has a vital training camp scheduled for early in January, so it might not be possible for me to come to Birmingham."

Where did all the

money go? CHEN XINHUA won the World Cup in Japan in 1985, halting Andrzej Grubbs in the final. The prize kitty was about £16,000. Chen received £70, the rest went t.o the Chinese TIA?

As these facts are revealed six years later it should be pointed out in fairness to the Chinese ruling body in the sport - they would regard Chen as an investment that paid off. The player freely admits that for many years as his skills were honed to perfection, everything was free, accommodation, food, all that a player could need.

That is the way the Chinese system works - they do everything for the player in their national squad. When he leaves the country as many do of course, they are still expected to make contributions to the Chinese TIA if successful in making money, part of the Communist ideology.

PAGE 4

Early Christmas shopping for Susan and Alan Cooke

Stuart Sneyd's

moving to Wales

DEPUTY Chairman Stuart Sneyd announced at the National Council meeting on Saturday 12th October, at the Open University, Milton Keynes, that he would not be standing for office next season.

This is because he is moving

The big money

tournaments ORGANISERS of money tournaments on the continent do not seem to have the trouble creating big cash kitties as we do here iIi Britain.

These invitation events are on the increase and are a threat to the traditional open tournaments where the prize money is negligible or even non-existent.

A sponsor in Leige (Belgium), is to run a one-day, all-star, all-money event on Wednesday, January 8, the day before the English Open at Birmingham - an event certain to attract possibly all the eight top seeds at Birmingham. The four top Swedes, Persson, Waldner. Appelgren and Lindh, Saive senior, Grubbs, Rosskopf and Gatien are expected to receive invitations.

It is likely that arrangements will be made for star players to travel direct from Brussells to Birmingham airport on the following day, as they will have byes in the first round of the mens singles.

Chen Xinhua has been invited to another money event in the South of France on March 13. He has won this event before, but With some help from Paul Haldan who removed Waldner!

High rewards THE rewards for success in this sport are higher than many people think, especially for the star players in the Bundesliga.

Chen Xinhua. now enjoying a lucrative contract With the club Sontheim (near Stuttgart) collected around £3,000 for winning one game - against Jean-Michel Salve and losing tWice to Persson and Jorg Rosskopf.

Some of the £3,000 will be used to send his two young sons Tamar and Liang to Fukien, China to spend time With their grandparents - an old Chinese custom before children reach school-age.

Chen's father earns a meagre £600 a year in China, so in 45 minutes Chen earned about five times his father's annual salary!

Extra points from Bonn

* NEXT YEAR the tournament is expected to invite only players from Europe, but keeping to the agreed formula With the ETTU on eligibility. * JOURNAUSTS were told that next year it could be best of three games instead of five. The five-setters went on far too long - one session ran into another on the second day. * WALDNER'S winning prize was 25,000 US dollars, Chen received about £3,000 in all. * CAPITAL yields tax as in German law was deducted from winnings. * EACH player brought a coach, also With hospitality. Chen was coached by England director of coaching Don Parker.

With his family to North Wales.

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------1-------­ENGLISH TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION

APPOINTMENT

FULL TIME REGIONAL TABLE TENNIS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER (GREATER LONDON)

Initially a three year appointment (anticipated start date 1st January 1992 and subject

to review) to organise and co-ordinate the development of Table Tennis within the 33 London Boroughs with particular emphasis amongst young people and women.

Salary will be in the region of £16.000 and includes an allhoun worked supplement and London Weighting. Office based within London.

The successful candidate is likely to possess the foHowing:

·Proven organising/administrative ability (preferably in sport) ·E/fective communication and negotiating skills ·High level ofselfmotivation and mobilily ·Experience ofsports deveiopmenJ in an urban enviroNNnJ .UndL.rstanding of table tennis - FuJI Driving Licence

Closing date for applications: 20th No.ember 1991.

Job description and application fonn available from:

Diccon Gray (Nalional Delle/opmenJ Manager), English Tab~ Tennis Association ,Queensbury House,

Havelock RoaJ,Hastings, East Sussex TN341HF Tel: 0424 722525 Fax: 0424 422103

An eqUiJI opportunities post,funded by the Sports Council ,the London Borough Grants Unit and the English Table Tennis Association.

£40 million available for sport ENCOURAGED by the Government through a reduction in betting levies, the Pools Promoters have established a £60 million per annum fund to assist sport and the arts, £40 million of which will be spent on sport. This appears tobe the best . opportunity for table tennis clubs and leagues to improve their playing facilities or launch a development plan for table tennis within their locality. A number of leagues will already have experience of applying for grant aid support as a result of the ETTA's Development Fund. Applications along these lines are all eligible for grants from the new fund and therefore secretaries should waste no time in filing their applications. Full details of the scheme are published elsewhere in this magazine. The ETTA will do all that we can to help but the initiative needs to come from the local clubs and leagues. From the information we have available at the moment, this is a golden opportunity....don't miss it!

I have just returned from watching two of the best table tennis matches in Milton Keyenes and Leeds, that I have seen in England in the Japanese Festival games between England and Japan. The mixture of attack and defence between the two teams produced some really marvellous rallies. It was just a great pity that the BBC TV schedules did not allow the televising of one of these spectaculars. For England Carl Prean and Chen Xinhua played some excellent table tennis, both being unde­feated in the singles. The two table format worked well and the atmosphere, particu­larly at Leeds where the Yorkshire County and Leeds League did well to sell all the tickets, was really tremendous.

This month our teams have more important matches. A victory against Austria in the Men's European League First Division at Ipswich on November 8th will assure us of a place in the promotion play­offs, whilst both of our Men's and Women's teams have done well to qualify for the World Team Cup in Barcelona.

Arrangements are well in hand for the English Open at the magnificent National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. A strong entry is already guaranteed and more counties are joining the list of participants almost daily.

Arrangements are also almost complete for the Chinese Men's tour. Already confirmed as St. Austell (28th December), Bournemouth (29), Sheffield (lst January), Grantham (2nd), Cleveland Open (4th/5th), Gateshead (6th) and Milton Keynes (7th) and, of course, the English Open on 9th to 12th January. Their is still one date available, December 30th, and any organ­iser interested should contact Julian Tee in the ETTA Office. Donald Parker will have all of our best men available for selection including Carl Prean, Alan Cooke, Chen Xinhua, Desmond Douglas, Matthew Syed. The Chinese remain among the best in the World, so some excellent contests are in prospect.

On the junior front, the first International of the season will be played at Gateshead

Alan Ransome

on 15th November against the Netherlands. This will be a series of four matches, Junior Boys, Junior Girls, Cadet Boys and Cadet Girls. The teams will go on to play in the Cleveland Junior Open on 16th and 17th November. Donald Parker has picked his strongest squads for these matches and this weekend will be the first of a number of opportunities that our junior players will be given for this season to gain vital international experience. Another incentive from the Association to encourage the leading juniors is that the best prospects are to be given free entry into the English Open (senior) in Birmingham, for them­selves and free admission for their coaches. This year the Open includes an Under 21.

Jill Hammersley Parker, MBE, who took over the responsibility for the Junior Girls team as well as the Women's team from July, is increasing her commitment to the Association. From 1st October Jill is working full time as Women's Team Coach and National Coaching Manager. Jill, who is extremely well qualified as a result of her years at the top as an international player and coach, will take the responsibility for leading the Association's work with the coaching elements of the Focus Sport programme, within which it is intended to appoint a number of Regional Staff coaches with assistant from the Sports Council. These coaches will be responsible directly to Jill.

The funding for the first of these positions has already been agreed with the York"hire and Humberside Sports Council who have recently confirmed a three year package to the value of £125,000 with the Association. I was delighted to be able to conclude negotiations for this programme with their Regional Director, Cyril Villiers and officials of the Yorkshire Association, Eric Hill and Keith Shepherd when visiting

Leeds for the Japanese match on 19th October.

In addition to the coaching project, there are to be two full time Development Officers, one based in Leeds and the other in Humberside, and the Sports Counci are entering into a further agreement with the Leeds League and the Leeds. City Council to open a fuji time table tennis facility at the ArrnIey Sports Centre. The centre will have six tables for matches or at least nine for coaching. It will be used for the Leeds league matches and for the Centre of Excellence, in addition to a number of other table tennis activities.

The Development Officer for London is also confirmed, but unfortunately progress in some of the other regions is slightly delayed due to the Sports Council nation­ally deciding to appoint a Co-Ordinator to manage the Focus Sport programme from their viewpoint. In the long run the appointment of this Co-Ordinator will be to the overall benefit of table tennis, but it does mean that the starting date in some regions is going to be pushed back well in 1992.

There have been two disappointments this month. The first was the cancellation of the visit to this country of Ichiro Ogimura, the ITTF President. Other important ITTF business had to take precedence, but fortuantely I will have an opportunity to continue the discussions with him on a number of important issues at the World Team Cup in Barcelona later this month. A meeting of chairmen from several European countries has been called by the ITTF in Barcelona, which I will be attending, and this will give me the opportunity of talking to Mr. Ogimura and having discussions with a number of other overseas representatives about tours in this country and other potential projects.

The second disappointment was the announcement by Stuart Sneyd at the last National Council meeting that he would not be seeking re-election for the post of Deputy Chairman for a further term and would be retiring at the Annual General Meeting in June next year. Stuart has done a great deal of work over the last fiv~ years or so on the coaching scheme in particular and his contribution to the progress of the ETTA will be missed. Stuart is moving to Angelsey next year, however he intends to keep fully involved in table tennis, be it under the banner of the Welsh Association. I wish him luck with his new endeavours. All members of the Management Commit­tee who attended the last meeting dis­cussed informally the pending vacancy for the Deputy Chairmanship and all agreed to support the nomination of the current Vice Chairman for Competitions, Tony Chatwin.

I do hope that you will be making plans to visit the.English Open at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham or attending one of the matches on the Chinese tour. I also hope that you will take the opportunity to come and have a chat with me as I am always keen to talk to our members about any aspect of table tennis.

PAGES

Grant aid available THE Government and the writing from bona fide Pools Promoters have organisations, including in recently established a the case of table tennis, the Foundation managed by a national governing body Board of Trustees to admin­ (ETTA) and counties, ister a fund of £60m per leagues and clubs. County annum for the benefit of Associations, local leagues sport and the arts in this and clubs should consider country. submitting applications as

The finance is being soon as possible. Applica­provided by the pools tions along the lines of those promoters (mainly soccer) submitted for the ETTA's who have been given a Development Fund will in contribution from the the main be eligible for Government by way of a support but without the reduction of betting levies. upper limit. Applications The amounts involved are above £500 must be submit­£40m to go to sport per ted to the Foundation for annum and £20m to the arts consideration by the Board of per annum. Trustees. Prior to decision

Applications for grant aid they will be considered by support are to be made in the Working Party for sport

If you require entry forms for any of the following National Champi­onships please tick the relevant box and send it to the English Table Tennis Association, Queensbury House, Havelock Road, Hastings, East SussexTN34 1HF, enclosing a stamped ad­dressed envelope.

Tick Relevant box (es)

English Junior National Championships 14th/15th December 1991

English Open Championships LJ 9th-12th January 1992

English Senior National Championships LJ7th/8th March 1992

Halex English U18/21 National LJChampionships 3rd/4th May 1992

Halex English U11 National Championships LJ 10th May 1992

English Junior Open Championships D 23/24/25th May 1992

Halex U10/12 National Championships LJ13th/14th June 1992

who will in turn give a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is in December and the agenda is virtually full for that meeting. The next meeting is in March 1992 and therefore applications to reach that meeting should be submitted before Christmas.

Applications for £500 or less can be approved by the Foundation's Chairman Tim Rice at his discretion and therefore are dealt with more quickly and do not need to wait for a meeting of the Board of Trustees.

Porjects eligible for support include: a) Trainina SChemes Applications for support for coaching, particularly at the lower levels

b) Facilities Upgrading of existing playing facilities and possible grants for new facilities can be submitted

c) Equipment Table tennis is a natural for this category as the game cannot be played without a table.

The Association can assist members (counties, leagues and clubs) by providing advice and a letter of endorsement. However, the Association would need to have sight in advance of the proposed scheme and would have to be satisfied that the schemes are both viable and bona fide.

For ETTA assistance with your submission, please contact Diccon Gray, The Association's Development Officer.

The following are then the items of information which

the Foundation would like to receive:­

1. The latest Financial Statements of the enterprise to be assisted. 2. A description of the purposes for which a grant is sought. Where applicable this should be backed up with the reports of consult­ants and professional advisers. 3. The total cost of the project. 4. The amount of the grant desired from the Foundation. 5. A statement of the way in which it is ~roposed to fund the project, with information on other money which will, or may, be committed alongside that of the Foun­dation. 6. Information as to the persons who will be involved in the realisation of the plan. Where available and applica­ble, facts as to suppliers and contractors who will be, or who may be, invited to give effect to the proposals. 7. Any expressions of support for the project provided from noteworthy sources.

The address for the Founda­tion is PO Box 666, Liver­pool. L69 7JN. Telephone 051-5240235/6, and corre­spondence should be addressed to the Secretary of the Trustees, Mr. Grattan Endicott.

Taken [rom a document prepared [or the October National Council meeting by ETTA Chairman Alan Ransome

PAGE 6

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Audience on their feet ENGLAND's Men's team the second. brought the audience to their feet after beating Japan 5-2 at BLETCHLEYSCORES the B1etchley Leisure Centre, on Friday 18th October 1991. MEN:

Unfortunately our Women's team found the opposition too ENGLAND 5 JAPAN 2 strong, although Lisa Lomas stopped the whitewash with an Chen Xinhua b K. Matsushita excellent display of defensive 23,12 table tennis. Carl Prean b Y. Matsushita -19,

The Men's team, obviously 7,12 strengthened by the inclusion of Matthew Syed I H. Shibutani 19, Chen Xinhua, are proving -11, -14 themselves a formidable force, Chen and Prean b K. Matsushita that will get stronger, as the and Shibutani 8, 16 ever improving Matthew Syed Chen b Y. Matsushita 10, 16 developes his considerable Japan's captain Toshiaki (left) receives a gift from David Prean b H. Shibutani 17, 13 talents. Syed I K. Matsushita -21, 14, -16Hildreth, the Milton Keynes Borough Council Recreation Chen opened England's

Officer.account with a decisive straight WOMEN: victory over Japan's Koji determined Prean took the in both his sets losing in 3 each Matsuhita. Although the first second and third with a superb time. JAPAN 4 ENGLAND 1 game went to duece, Chen display of rythmic forehand England's National Women's moved up a gear to take the looping, to beat Japan's Yuji Champion Andrea Holt lost both M. Hoshino b Andrea Holt 17, ­second game 12. Matsushita. of her singles narrowly. Firstly 18, 19

England's National Cham­ Rising England star Matthew she lost to Miko Hoshino, the R. Sato b Lisa Lomas 16, -12, 17 pion Carl Prean was second on Syed showed why he will one 1990 English Open Champion in Hoshino and Sato b Holt and the table for the men, and day be very difficult to beat, at three, losing the third -19, Lomas 17, -18, 14 looked a little cold, losing the international level. But at whilst against Japan's No.1, Hoshino I Lomas -13, -14 first narrowly -19. But a B1etchley Syed just missed out Rika Sato, she lost in two, -20 in Sato b HOlt 14, 20

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PAGE 8

Prean and Chen undefeated THOSE of us fortunate enough to watch both the clashes at Bletchley and at Leeds, were struck by the identical scores, our men Winning again 5-2 and the women losing again 1-4 but in Yorkshire there was a distinct change of atmosphere.

Bletchley LC and their sponsors are so keen to put on a show for table tennis that it is hard to fault them, although a large arena as at Bletchley does not provide anything like the scenario at the Rothwell Leisure Centre in a hall half the size, but packed to the rafters with 500 fans and standing room only.

I have heard it said that Northern crowds make more noise, applaud louder and generally make their presence felt and heard. This stark contrast may prove that point, perhaps a generous admission for myself, a Southerner born and bred.

However, with the England men unchanged, it seemed quite likely that England would record their fifth victory in a row against Japan. Carl Prean and Chen stayed undefeated throughout the tour. The other three upsets for Japan against England carne in Japan at the last World Team Cup in Osaka and then twice at the World Championships in Cruba City, much of course, to the displeasure of the home crowds.

Carl Prean, aweseom often against choppers, delighted the Yorkshire enthusiasts with bursts of powerful driving against the combination bat owned by Koji Matsushita, clearly the Japan No.3 on this mini-tour, to Win the first clash 7, 17.

Matthew Syed, still bidding hard for his British Olympic place in between his 60 hours a week studying at Balliol College (Oxford) for degrees in history and economics, then lost his third game of the tour to YUji Matsushita -12, -18 haVing finally concluded that the only way to beat the Japs was to bring into use his top-sping attack, which he did superbly later in the match.

Hiroshi Shibutani, a clearcut No.1 for the tourists then surprised us all by taking the first game 15 against Chen Xinhua with an amalgam of defence and attack that at times seem to perplex the former World Cup Winner.

But not for long, Chen is too crafty a warrior and fine a technician to warrant that sort of cheek. He soon buckled down to a mixture of attack and defence that had the Japan champion chasing around the back of the court, to win 12, 15.

One of the most interesting features of the tour, enjoyed by the spectators, was that Chen and Syed, really had to attack with venom to win points, and that is not easily achieved by class defenders.

Although Don Parker had intended to play Michael O'Driscoll in the doubles with Prean, the Yorkshire

Carl Prean towers above Japan's Miko Hoshino

player (who has now taken up his University place) was unable to play because he was suffering from tonsilitus. So Park~'1 decided to play Prean and Chen . 1: worked at Bletchley but the Japs got their revenge 15, 13 at Rothwell leaVing the score at 2 - 2.

At that juncture, had Syed lost to Koji, England could have been in some difficulties, but the Oxford freshman after losing the first, threw caustion aside, and burst through the very skilled, angled and cleverly backspun balls that were presented to him. I was sitting behind the court at that stage at a point where the true class of spin can be seen. Syed amazed himself by storming through 19, 11.

He said, just before he joined the Ml fast lane, 20 minutes after smashing Koji, "That was the best win of my career. I did not thing that by attacking, I could get through his defences.'

Syed drove through the night to Brentwood to lead Team Peniel to their first defeat in the British League, 8 - 3 to NFD Grove. Syed beat Chris Oldfield but lost to the legend, Desmond Douglas.

But it was a fine weekend for Matthew Syed overall - the Win over

Matsushita and over Oldfield should help his cause - to play for England in Barcelona, next July.

The two final games in the men's match were played together. Chen got into a spot more bother in the first against Yoji, but swept ruthlessly home to Win 20, 7.

The final game, Prean v Shibutani, was a classic. Against expectations Hiroshi raised his game to a point where Carl had to produce the most thundering selection of attacking shots, mainly on the forehand. I cannot recall haVing seen Carl in recent times have to hit the ball so hard, but he did so in the most professional manner to Win 18, 19.

PARKER TRIBUTE Don Parker said after the tour had finished that he was well satisified with the England women's team, although they lost at both venues 4 ­1. Lisa Lomas fought as hard as ever for her Win at Bletchley and it was pleasant to witness Alison Gordon hit back at being dropped from the European League by defeating Sato -18, 15, 17 to provide England with a consolation victory after going 4-0

down. Andrea Holt, up against some of

the best players in the Asian women's scene, seems to get downhearted on court, but she played skilfully and bravely as she lost to Hoshino and Sato. This left some spectators thinking perhaps that the girl from Bury does have the armoury to Win more in Europe; not many European women Win against their Asian rivals anyway, not even the top Europeans, so there is some way to go yet for Andrea who in France last month lifted her game in this national league to beat former European champion Daniela Guergueltoheva!

Summing up the tour: Japan are the sort of team in the men's game that England have to beat if they are to stay in the top flight at world level. The women were up against it, as are all European women against the Asians. Both events at Bletchley and Leeds were well organised. On the publicity side, Bletchley will need to start earlier if they want publicity ­an llpm finish there. The early start (6pm) at Rothwell would have been fine on a weekday, but even then the result made only the final editions of the Sunday Telegraph.

The publicity suffered also from the World Cup Rugby that saturated most newspapers although the results and a report on Rotherham did make my Daily Telegraph column on the folloWing Tuesday. Bletchley results did rriake the very late London edition on Saturday morning.

LEEDS SCORES""

MEN:

ENGLAND 5 JAPAN 2

C. Prean b K. Matsushita 7, 17 M. Syed I Y. Matsushita -12, -18 Chen Xinhua b H. Shibutani -15,12, 15 Prean and Chen I K. Matsushita and Shibutani -15, -13 Syed b K. Matsushita -19, 19, 11 Chen bY. Matsushita 20, 7 Prean b Shibutani 18, 19

WOMEN:

ENGLAND 1 JAPAN 4

A. Gordon 1M. Hoshino -13, -18 A. Holt I r. Sato -5, -18 Gordon and Holt I Sato and Hoshino -16, -18 Holt 1 Hoshino -14, -17 Gordon b Sato -18,15,17

PAGE 9

Man of the moment PROBABLY one man around at the moment has had a realistic life's ambition to become chairman of the English Table Tennis Association - the man who now is, Alan Ransome.

Did you know that he was the ETTA's youngest club secretary, at the age of 12? Or that a year later he was the youngest league secretary? Not long after that he was the youngest national councillor as well.

To achieve that, at the age of only 19, he had to overcome a life member in an election. The press called him "King of the Kids", not all that helpfully at the time, because the label encour­aged some of the establishments to regard him as a rebel and an upstart.

For the next few years Ransome's presence threatened to split the sport. They were tought times but provided him with an important insight into how best to handle hostile opposition. This was something which stood him in good stead during the elections for the chairmanship last spring.

It is an open secret that Alan's opponents alleged he was unsuitable for the role, on the grounds of his widespread business interests. He plans to answer them by adding to an already remarkable list of achieve­ments. For what some people may not realise is that Alan Ransome's record makes him the nearest thing there is to a Mr. Table Tennis.

It started when a chicken hut at the bottom of his garden was converted into a table tennis room. Later it became a much-celebrated venue, because it was here, right in his own back garden, that Ormesby were later to win the European Club Cup.

As a player he represented England, and as a coach he helped produce an international standard player every year for seven years. As an administrator he developed into one of the very few men with a knowledge of all the ETTA's departments. As an organiser he made the Cleveland tournament the leading annual competition almost every year since 1969.

And as a promoter he brought two world class events to Cleveland - the

The Sunday Times Correspondent Richard Eaton, writes a profile on the ETTA Chairman Alan Ransome

Alan Ransome

European Top Twelve and the Euro­Asia tournament - the second of which produced some of the best TV yet seen. It helped prove the compatibility of the small table with the small screen.

In the process of these three decades of effort a once-shy fellow transformed himself into an effective salesman and a meticulous diplomat. He also became a workaholic of whom it was said he expected everyone else to be likewise. But that was often an acceptable fault in a man whose achievements are among the most outstanding in the sport.

Ransome had a trial for Yorkshire cricket club as a lad. But he chose table tennis because he was fascinated by the game's unusual combinations of physical and intellectual qualities - a quicksilver magic of tactical subtlety

and sleight of hand. "With the right promotion and marketing in this country it could be one of the most popular sports, as it is in Germany and China," he says.

A launching pad for this could be provided by the national 'Focus Sport'" scheme, which has seen the Sports Council choose table tennis and soccer as the two activities to be focussed over the next three years.

The scheme's proposals suggest there may be highly significant expan­sion in the numbers of coaches and development officers, and in the proportion of three million casual participants who become affiliated competitors. It was Ransome's fore­sight, ten years ago, that made this possible.

Then, as head of the ETTA's development department, he pioneered the restructuring of the Association's boundaries to coincide with those of the Sports Council. This has made possible the funding that could create, for a minor sport, a very major opportu­nity. To help ensure it is grasped he has increased the number of the Association's departments to eight. He himself has relinquished twenty other positions within the game.

Relations between leading players and the ETTA has already notably improved, with the removal of a clause in their contracts which restricted their ability to speak to the media. Desmond Douglas suggested this was a reason for his unexpected retirement from international competition in the middle of last season.

Ransome has also been an advocate for Chen Xinhua, whose debut for England in May last year caused so much argument. It was not until more than a year after this that the battle to gain clearance for the former Chinese international to play in European competition was finally won. Without the efforts of the new chairman it may never have been possible.

The outcome of all this is that, when the talked-about national eco­nomic recovery actually comes, table tennis could be on the verge of its most promising era in its century-old history. And if anyone is able to become the game's new prophet it should be the man they alleged was not suitable to run it.

PAGE 11

Short &Schofield salvo THE HILTON NATIONAL HOTELS VETTS SOUTHERN MASTERS

MIKE SHORT and Doreen Schofield won their respective over 40 singles skirmishes in the Hilton Vetts Southern Masters, last month.

The Hilton National Hotels Southern Masters VETTS tournament was held at Basingstoke over the weekend of the 5/6th October. The event attracted a total of 220 entrants and for Val Roffe it was her first as referee at a vetts masters.

In the over 40 mens singles number one seed Dave Harvey had to scratch as his wife was taken ill. Even with Dave absent the line up was as strong as ever. In the quarter finals Derek Holman beat Dave Bowles 8, 12. Stuart Gibbs come up against National Champion Dave Wellsman, Gibbs playing some great table tennis claimed a semi final spot by winning two straight 16, 10. In the other two quarter finals Mike Short beat Clive Morris 14, 13 and Mal Corking beat D. Roberts 13 and 16. The semi final line up was Gibbs against Holman and Short against Corking. Gibbs took the first end against Holman 19, Holman squared it by winning the next 24-22. Stuart claimed his final spot when he won the The over 50 mens singles decider 12. In the other Mike seen semi-final wins for Keith Short and Mal Corking had a Powell over Brian Allinson 11 tense struggle with Short and 20 and Stan "the bat" coming out the victor 18, 18. In Battrick beat Ray Dixon 11 and the final Gibbs took the first 22­ 18. In the final after losing the 20 and looked to be on his way first -20 Stan came back to win to winning the title when he led the next two and the title 17 13-3 in the second only to see and 16. Stan claimed a second Short stage a great combeback title when he combined with to win 18. Short then won the Fred Lockwood to win the over decider 14 to take the title. 50 Doubles. En route to the over

In the over 40 womens' singles 40's mens doubles Derek quarter finals there was wins for Schofield and Matt Sheader D. Schofield, M. Maltby, M. Staf­ seen off the young pretenders ford and G. Knightley. In the Gibbs and Corking. In the final semi -finals it was wins for they came up against Derek Schofield over Matby 16, 17 and Holman and Connie Warren. Stafford claimed her final place by After scraping home 20 in the beating Knightley 15, 14. So the first Derek and Connie made it a final was Schofield against Staf­ straight win by taking the next ford and it was Doreen who came 16. away with the title with a fine 17 A special mention of thanks and 13 victory. to Vals super team of Peter

In the womens' over 50's Roden and Phil Gower plus of final Janet Hunt had a very course Val for making it a tense struggle to beat Pam trouble free tournament. Also to Butcher 22-20, 26-24. Earlier in Eileen Allison for doing lots of the semi-finals Janet had beaten umpiring. One only hopes Connie Moran 17, 13 and Pam Eileen's example can be a spur had beaten Sylvia Coombes 13, to others to umpire at forthcom­

ing tournaments. 15.

PAGE 12

Matt Sheader (picture above) who with his partner Derek Schofield, reached the Over 40 Mens' Doubles final

THE HILTON NATIONAL HOTELS VETTS SOUTHERN MASTERS

FULL RESULTS

OVER 40 MENS' SINGLES FINAL M. Short beat S. Gibbs -20, 18, 14 OVER 40 WOMENS' SINGLES FINAL D. Schofield beat M. Stafford 17, 13 OVER 50 SINGLES' WOMEN FINAL J. Hunt beat P. Butcher 20, 24 I OVER 50 SINGLES' MEN FINAL S. Battrick beat K. Powell -20, 17, 16 OVER 40 MENS' DOUDBLES FINAL D. Holman & C. Warren beat

D. Schofield & M. Sheader 20, 16 OVER 40 WOMENS' DOUBLE FINAL C. Basden & M. Dawson beat

S. Carroll & E. Shaler 17, -18, 13 OVER 50 MENS' DOUBLE FINAL S. Battrick & F. Lockwood beat

B. Halliday & B. Mayfield 9, 11 OVER 50 WOMENS' DOUBLES FINAL M. Neary & J. White beat S.

Coombes & A. Robinson 11, -15, 17 OVER 60 MENS' SINGLES FINAL G. Batt-Rawden beat L D'Arey 18, 21 OVER 60 WOMENS' SINGLES-FINAL G. Hazell beat J. Cook 19 14 OVER 60 MENS' DOUBLES FINAL T. Donlon & G. Batt-Rawden beat

L. D'Arcy & R. Etheridge 7, -19, 14 OVER 60 WOMENS' DOUBLES FINAL J. Cook & M. Jones beat

D. Harmer & S. Jameson 11, 8 OVER 70 SINGLES' FINAL L. D'Arcy beat N. Lusher 8, 14 MIXED DOUBLES FINAL C. Morris/M. Dawson beat

M. ShortiE. Shaler 13, 17 MENS' RESTRICTED FINAL D. Roberts beat D. Wright 16, 19 WOMENS' RESTRICTED FINAL A. Burroughs beat B. Bayford 17, 14

Chinese takeaway CHINESE super boy Meng Qing Yu beat hill fellow countryman Xu hi in the Boys' Singles Final, whUst Sally Marling Oew the Oag for England winning the Girls' Singles, at Bridlington, last month.

BRIDLINGTON'S reputation for being 'The Resort For Sport' was further enhanced with the running of the 5th East Yorkshire Junior Open on the weekend of the 12th/13th of October. Many believe that our sport will flourish if organisers adopt a more professional approach and the showpiece venue of The Royal Spa Hall, added to the sk!lful organisation of the North Yorkshire team, is ample evidence of that theory. A quality entry has always been the order the day, with this year's tournament having the added attraction of the top two Chinese junior boys Xu Kai and Meng Ding Yu. The Royal Spa Hall was buzzing with anticipation as early as the group stage on the first day when the young Chinese stars arrived to sample the atmos­phere during the Cadet events. Favourite, and NO.1 seed for the Cadet Boys Singles was Steven Meddings and he duly took the title without the loss of a set including a merciless 6 and 8, drubbing for Michael James in his semi-final. Meddings completed a succession of quality performances with a straight sets win over Darry Meredith who had inched out No.2 seed Vincent Avery -16, 19, 22 in a pulsating encounter in the other semi-final. Kathryn Woodward almost produced a fairyta1e ending in the correspond­ing Girls event. Having worked her way through from a qualifying group, a preliminary round, and the main draw, the Cheshire girl only just failed against Sarah Stedman. The scores of 12, -16, 22 tell their own story and show just how close she came to making it a perfect ending to a wonderful day. However Catherine Corkill did just that by winning the Under 12 Girls' Singles, also having to work her way through from the group stage.

The Chinese connection was evident in the Under 12 Boys' event when Christian Thompson over­turned top seed Gerald Ashison 18 and 12 in the final. Young Gerald must have been quite bemused and perhaps a little overawed to find the whole of the Chinese contingent backing the boy from Kent. The seed!ngs almost went to plan in both Cadet Doubles events but the Michael James/Simon James and Glenda Ashison/Shelley Ruocco combinations both won through from their NO.2 seeded slots. Glen Ritchie and Nicola Silburn completed the first days proceedings with victories in the respective Boys and Girls Restricted Cadet events. Both were deserved winners of above average standard competitions. Sunday's Junior events saw a large crowd gather at the courtside when Xu and Meng made their first appearance in the Junior Boys' Doubles. They certainly gained top marks for

PAGE 14

The Royal Spa Hall at Bridlington

entertainment as they diplomatically swept their way to the final. Yorkshire's Darren Lindley and Robert Sharp fought their way through from the other half of the draw, including a fine 15 and 10 win over the NO.2 seeded pairing of Barry Forster and Ray Powell, only to fall to Xu and Meng in the final. The Junior Boys' Singles was slightly impaired by the withdrawal of England's NO.1 Alex Perry. Seeded 3 behind the Chinese pair, his absence reportedly due to an excess of homework along with others from the Malcolm Francis Tournament squad, gave the . opportunity to benefit from the experience of meeting Xu and Meng to those who chose to compete. Ian Musk was a surprise semi final!st, marching through from the qualifying groups, and only had his fine run ended by the Chen Xinhua like skills of Xu. NO.4 seed Barry Forster reached his allotted semi final slot and aquitted himself quite well, although never looking like threatening Meng.

Interesting performances in the early stages included a superb deuce in the 3rd '1\1 in for one of last seasons top Cadet.s Phil Neal. England NO.7 Ray Powell oeing the unfortunate victim. However the 14 year old from Hull was overshadowed by county colleague Michael James who took out the seeded Robert Sharp and James Wheatley, both in three sets, before he took his departure courtesy of Meng. A large crowd stayed to watch the Junior finals and the Chinese boys played out an entertaining three ender. It barely seemed to matter which of the two succeeded, the fact that the match stretched to a deciding set was sufficient for a very appreciative audience. For the record Meng blasted his way through his fellow countryman's elegant defence.

Although understandably overshadowed by the presence of Xu and Meng, the Junior Girls Singles was a very keenly contested affair from a particularly strong entry. Top two seeds Sally Marling and Katie Goodall making it an all Yorkshire final with the former comfortably adding the East Yorkshire title to her already impressive list of tournament wins. However the roles were reversed in the girls doubles with the Goodall/Caroline Bentley combina­tion succeeding against Marling and Sara Williams. As with the Cadets,

... the Restricted Junior Singles proved to be very competitive with Lancashire pair Philip Musgrove and Tamar Connolly being the deserved winners.

All in all, the East Yorkshire Junior Open achieved its objectives. Councillor Tom Brown, the Mayor of East Yorkshire Borough Counc!I, the Borough's seemingly tireless Recreation Chief Barry Clifton, and Councillor John Cox, the Chairman

of the Borough's Environment and Community Services, all believe that the North Yorkshire Tournament team have made great strides towards making their event the leader on the junior circuit. A marvellous prize find, superb organisation, quality equipment provided by Donic and Jarvis Sports, and the majestic setting of the Spa Royal Hall gives table tennis the image that it needs. Theorganlsing team, and those unsung heroes from the umpiring fraternity, worked long and hard to give players, coaches, and parents Ii thoroughly enjoyable weekend. As one coach and his charge prepared for the long joumey home at the end of the finals session, his short summing up put into words the thoughts of many, 'The travelling is well worthwhile - this is simply the Rolls Royce of the Junior 2 starts.' High praise one might think, but on the evidence of two superb days in Bridlington it is priase that is certainly justified.

EAST YORKSHIRE JUNIOR OPEN RESULTS JBS - SF - Xu Kai (Chn) bt 1 Musk (B u) 7, 9 - Meng Ding Yu (Chn) bt B. Forster (NI) 11, 12 - F - MengbtXu 9, -17, 14 JGS - SF - S. Marling (Y) bt S. Williams (Mi) -15,11,18 - K. Goodall (Y) bt N. Deaton (Dy) 19, 14 - F Marling bt Goodall 10, 12 JBD - F Meng & Xu bt D. Lindley & R. Sharp (Y) 13, 9 JGD - F - C. Bentley (Y) & Goodall bt Marling & Williams 17, 14 CBS - SF - S. Meddings (Wa) BT M. James (Y) 6, 8 - D. Meredith (La) bt V. Avery (E) -16, 19, 22 - F Meddings bt Meredith 17, 15 CGS - SF - K. Woodward (Ch) bt N. Massingham (Ll) 18, 11 - S. Stedman (Sx) bt V. Fox (SI) 8, 20 - F Stedman bt Woodward 12, -16 22 CBD - F - M. James & S. James (Y) bt Avery & Meddings 15, -9 15 CGD - F - G. Ashison (Sy) & S. Ruocco (E) bt D. Pestka (Ng) & Woodward 16, -19,10 Ul2BS - F - C. Thompson (K) bt G. Ashison (Sy) 18, 12 URGS - F - C. Corkill (Cu) bt Pestka 19, -17, 12 Restricted JBS - F - D. Musgrove (La) bt P. Neal (Y) 18, 16 Restricted JGS - F - T. Connolly (La) bt Massingham 17, 25 Restricted CBS - F - G. Ritchie (K) bt S. Joslin (E) -22, 16, 18 Restrict CGS - F - N. Silburn (Y) b I. C. Hall (K) 16, 12

Waldner wins the Masters JAN-aVE WALDNER, arguably the most talented player in the world who won the world title at Dortmund in 1989 struck again to become the first winner of the £60,000 European Masters Cup in Bonn on September 29.

Waldner, the man, still only 24, who thinks nothing of placing £1,000 bets at casinos and still bears the scar of being mugged after leaving the green beige tables in Hong Kong three years ago, managed to motivate himself to beat Jean­PhiIlipe Gatien of France in the final in a four-game thriller -19, 15, 18, 21.

The standard of play throughout the three days play was extremely high, the standard of presentation was higher than ever and the hospitality for players, officials and the media was well up to the high standards usually attained by the German Tisch-Tennis Bund.

Table tennis fans in Europe are so lucky. Not long ago, to see the world's best players in competitive action a fan would need to travel to the Far East where China, Korea and Japan rule, or to the world champi­onships, held only every two years.

At the present time, the world's best players - possibly Persson, Waldner, Appelgren, Gatien, Rosskopf, Grubba can all be seen fairly regularly in Europe - Cologne­Bonn airport is only an hour away from Heathrow.

Note that Asian players were all heaved out of the World Cup in Kuala Lumpa before the semi-finals. The last four were Persson (the winner), Waldner, Gatien and Salve....further proof if it were needed that the Chinese domination of this spert is well and truly ended.

The only Chinese player to shine currently is Ma Wenge, whilst Korea seems to be marking time - Yoo Nam Kyu failed to arrive in Bonn.

His apparent reason for not coming was that he was in hospital. The fact that an Asian player was invited was not appreciated by many people in Bonn.

Wax Problems The problems in Yugoslavia came to Bonn. There was sympathy for exile Zoran Primorac who could be eligible for immediate membership of the armed forces if he returned now to his native Croatia.

llija Lupelesku took the resevere . position in Bonn after Yoo was pulled out and Carl Prean declined the offer of being first reserve.

Had Prean accepted this invitation he would it appears, have played instead of Y00 and qualified for substantial appearance money. Instead, he elected to spend some of the weekend practicing with Michael

O'Driscoll at Saarbrucken. With only one English fan present

- Barry Granger from Essex - the tournament got under way with a disappointment. Chen was well beaten 11, 16, 14 by world champion Persson, a revenge win as Chen defeated Persson in the Bundesliga a few weeks earlier, when Rosskopf and Fetzner wen; also Chen victims.

Later, Chen's irllmaculate back­spin and sharp attacks up-ended Salve 21, 13, 6 whilst Salve beat Persson but only when it was obvious that Persson and Chen were going through.

Waldner dominated Group 2, but Fetzner bounced back to quality over a sad looking Primorac.

Lupelesku was the loser in group 3 where Grubba with his spectacular ability to come back from impossible situations, in particular stopping Appelgren 11 in the fifth game.

Jean-Philippe Gatien is possibly the most imPIOVed player in Europe. To reach the final in Kuala Lumpur and then in Bonn must have been beyond his dream. His win over Rosskopf 19 in the fifth was a turning point in the tournament, because that put in Chen into the pit with Rosskopf, whereas the Chinese player may have had a better chance

of chopping Gatien to defeat. And so to the quarter finals and

the sudden-death stage at the Hardtberghalle. I have never seen Jorg Rosskopf play so well. Chen tned everything he knew, but revenge was sweet for the German ace as he thrashed his way through one of the best defences 10 the world to earn thunderous applause from the 2,000 German fans. The home fans by the way, saved plenty of appreciation for Chen whose skills are becoming legendary in Germany as well as elsewhere.

The shock of the quarters was possibly Gatien's victory over Persson, patiently shaped in five exciting games, whilst the win by Waldner over Appelgren showed that 'Appel' is showing his age at last.

Probably, the most exciting clash of the tournament was the semi-final defeat on Grubba by Gatien. Yet another cliff-hanging five-game battle of blazing attacking shots that saw the younger Frenchman despatching the 34-year-old Pole 21 10 the final game, whilst Waldner managed to raise his motivation high enough to put an end to Rosskopf 15, 13, 14.

Waldner. the Swede who gambles his merry way through We on and off the table lost the first game of the final 19 to Gatien, but in typical style, poker-faced as always, never showing any emotion, finally prevented a fifth-game decider to win at 21, in the fourth.

Stunning The presentation of the event was splendid, stunning and of course expensive. The Germans have a

consortium of sponsors led by Opel. No expense was spared in presenting three days of table tennis of the highest quality.

The tournament's showbiz type approach was incredibly professional. On the first day the players appeared through a haze of 'dry-ice' (stage smoke as seen at pop concerts), accompanied by fanfares in quad sound, setting a superb atmosphere that encouraged the German fans to respond so well.

Laser and strobe lighting in colour enhanced the effects. The hall lights were out before the players arrival on court producing a most dramatic effect.

The public address commentator was highly professional, announcing the players and giving their credentials at a high-decibel level that was never too loud for me or the bulk of the younger fans.

This is the way forward for tournament presentation. George Yates was the only member of the ETTA Management team present. I suspect it was all too much for him, but to combine the atmosphere of a pop concert with world class table tennis was highly successful and a model for officials from other nations.

Germany is out on its own as the best presenter of world-class table tennis. We know they have the money that others yearn for, but thiS must be the best way to promote the sport, the target for the future.

European Masters Cup results from

t:j'-:.-(;\;'~-~B nn,"",

• .

Group 1: J. Persson b Chen Xinhua 11,16,14. J. Salve 1 Chen -21, -13, -6. Persson 1 Salve 16, -16, -15, -18

Group 2: J. Waldner b Fetzner 16, 13, 18, Z. Primorac 1 Fetzner 14, -14, -14, 13, 18. Waldner b Primorac -15, 15, 12, ­16, 20

Group 3: A. Grubba b I. Lupelesku 21, 10, 16. M. Appelgren b I. Lupelesku -18, 17, 14,12. Grubba b. Appelgren 12, -12, -17,1711

Group 4: J. Gatien b E. Lindh -17,15, -20, 12. J. Rosskopfb Lindh -17, 7,19,14. Gatien 1 Rosskopf 18, -18, -18, 18, ­19.

QUARTER FINALS: Gatien b Persson 19,18, -16, -17,17 Grubba b Fetzner 12, -12, 10, 14 Rosskopf b Chen 9, 17, 14 Waldner b Appelgren 14, 20, 21

SEMI FINALS: Gatien b Grubba 10, -18, 20, -21,21 Waldner b Rosskopf 15, 13, 14

FINAL: Waldner b Gatien -19, 15, 18, 21

PAGElS

Peniel spectacular TEAM PENIEL continued their winning ways at Ellenborough with some devastat­ing results, without Steve Dorking. Their 8­ovictory included John Holland beating Ian McLean by the impressive scores of 21-7, 21-5 and Matt Syed beating Graham Sandley by the spectacular margin of 21-5, 21-21 All games were won two-straight and yet somehow that match lasted two hours on two tables - either a very long tea-break or expedite every game! Yugo Cars showed some potential as they beat Bathwick Tyres 8-2. Alex Perry chalked up a useful victory over Chris Rogers -14, 19, 19 to show his fighting spirit. Yugo Cars are now rumoured to be importing so watch out whoever is next in the firing line.

Turner back West Warwickshire put themselves back

on the map in Division 1 North at the expense of Britannia Ipswich who they beat 7-1. John Kitchener beat Adrian Dixon for consolation 18, -18, 19. Barry Johnson beat Richard Tanner and 'Kitch' in straight games. Well Connected Menswear beat Liverpool 5-3 with their first 3 wins all gained at 21-12 in the third. Steve Turner resurfaced for Liverpool and beat Mark Randle and Graeme McKim quite convinc­ingly. Norwich Foxwood shared the points with Ruston Marconi Lincoln. Two from Neil Pickard were offset by two from Stephen Yallop. NFD Grove II continue to dominate and had little trouble with Vymura International, winning 7-1. Graham Clarke must have gone home disappointed as he lost -17,18, -16 to Ian Stokes and 16, -13, -15 to John Souter. RML and WCM drew. Phil Vickers beat Andy Edmonds, but the latter won the last game to salvage a point.

Green piece Larkhall beat NFD Grove in Division 1 South.

Mike Hammond and Dave Harding took two a piece with one from [an Girdier for the points. The main resistance came from Malcolm Green. but his efforts were not enough to turn the match. Bathwick Tyres beat Victoria Park Mazda by the same margin in a 3 and a half hour marathon. Andy Creed kept Bath on course with comfortable wins against Mark Simon and Jeff Morgan. Jonathan Ailen just lost out 17-21 in the third to both Diccon Gray and Chris Bridges. John Taylor beat Brian Jeanes and Steve Ward for Ellenborough II to draw with Colley Toyota. The Welsh team were without Dave Barr which seemed to cost them a point. Horsham Dolphins and DML White Hart Launceston also drew. Paul Whiting beat Paul Elphick and Ritchie Venner but his effort was offset by Andy Walker who beat Greg Bridgett and Gary Lambert.

Burslem buried Chan Constructions flexed their muscles

against Burslem in Division 2 North. Phil Gunn led Chan to an 8-0 victory with wins over Mark Evans and Brian Johns. Stephens NYSD beat Burslem 5-3. On this OCCAsion

John Holland (left) and Mathew Syed of Team Peniel

Matt Sheader comfortably in straight games. For Humberside Gareth Jones starred with close wins over Phil Smith and Martin Pickles. City of Leeds entertained Yugo Cars II and David Indriks opened by beating Ian Brown. Keith Rodger quickly reversed the trend and Yugo rattled off the next seven games.

Brownmakes his mark In Division 2 South-West Kleinwort

Benson Gillingham overcame DML White Hart Launceston 5-3. Mark Brown played well to beat Jeremy Williams and Kevin Buddell. Edison beat Amity Generation Fareham 5-3 after leading 5-1. Graham Toole beat Ian Black and Clive Carthy fairly easily but he could not prevent maximums from David Goode and Simon Rockall. Cheltenham Saracens had Raymond Powell to thank for their 5-3 win over Gunnersbury

Alex Peny of Bathwick Tyres Triangle. All games were won and lost two­straight, the closest of these being a 17 and 19 win for Chris Pichon over Brenda Lee.

Brian Johns beat Anwar Majid and Mick Colley Toyota II took Kleinwort Benson Stead in straight games. Eddie Wilkes beat Gillingham to three for six of their eight Malcolm Corking at deuce in the 3rd. games but still lost all of them. Horsham Borough of Sunderland went down 3-5 to Dolphins II beat DML White Hart Chan. Steve Bertie fulfilled a supporting role Launceston 5-3. Roger Chandler enjoyed to Phil Gunn. Bribar Hurnberside beat City some long games, beating Adrian Vincent ­of Leicester 5-3 despite two from Mark 19, 13, 24 and losing to Carole Giles 12, -20, Illinqswort.h. who beat Sally Marlina and -20.

I • Schildkrot distributed by Butterfly. PAGE 16

Only one match to report on from Division 2 South-East where BSG Brentwood and City of Milton Keynes shared the honours in a 3 and a quarter hour match in which the first six games went to three. Led by Richard Darnell BSG Brentwood went 4-2 ahead but John Burleton pulled out the stops to help salvage a draw.

Opponent complimented In 3 hours 29 minutes Stephens NYSD II

lost 3-5 to Vymura International II in Division 3 North. Steve Horsefield saved the day for Vymura beating John Crawford 23 and 14 and Tim Dyson 21 and 25. Tony Gelder led Borough of Sunderland to a 5-3 win against Kingshurst Bribar. Dave Robson also won his two. Match Referee Harry Madison describes Andrew Wilkinson as a "fine young player" in Vale Royal Warrington's draw with Ormesby - he beat Ken Connor 18 and 11 and Tony Worthington -19, 18, 20 to put Ormesby 4-3 ahead. VRW's Malcolm McEvoy recorded two straight-game victories over Barry Forster and Stuart Miller. Uxbridge (Burton) had Ivor Warner leading them to their first ever League victory, 6-2 over Lifeline Developments Crusaders. A duck from Neil Slater blotted the copy book but Steven Shaw took no chances conceding an average of only 10 points per game.

Alpha Southampton travelled to Parkside Dragons Newport only to lose 3-5 in Division 3 South. Byron Davies earned Man of the Match by beating Tony Catt 14 and 15 and Andrew Ely 4 and 15. Jozeph Okosiene and Michale Gabriel with a deuce game. Rejects just missed out on a draw and actually lost 2-6 to Linda Farrow. The latter had recruited Mike O'Leary from the former! Steve Carpenter put up a good fight, losing to John Payne -9, 18, -19. Duncan Taylor played well to take his revenge on Mike Loveder and scraped through -12, 20,19 in an entertaining battle. JAGS hold on to top spot by virtue of a 7-1 win against Grove. Only two games went the distance in which Farhat Rasullost to Tony Fitzgerald beat Jose Bongers 18, -16, 19.

Another near miss... Levis Westfield also just missed out on a

draw in Division 3 East against Team Peniel II, losing 3-5. Ayoade Ademakinwa squeezed past Richard Elliott 21, -21, 19 and Vince Avery clinched the points in convincing style.

I only have one result from Division 3 West too. OLOPS comprehensively beat Ashford Kent 6-2, five games with scores of 10 or less. Justin Goodall resisted the onslaught with wins over Paul Savins and Wally Allanson.

A second reminder to the team adrnin men (and women): please do ensure that result sheets are complete Le. include the Division and players' first names etc. And of course results must be sent in promptly.

Some 3rd November matches to watch out for include: Premier - Yugo Cars v NFD Grove, and Ellenborough v Bathwick Tyres; Division 1 North - NFD Grove II v West Warwickshire;' and Division 1 South -Horsham Dolphins v Colley Toyota. Watch this space!!

LATEST RESULTS (22nd September)

PREMIER

NFD Grovel Con We S1. Neots Team Peniel I

1 NORTH

Well C. Menswear NFD Grove II Vymura Int'l Ruston M Lincoln

1 SOUTH Ellenborough I Victoria P Mazda Larkhall I DML WH Launceston

2 NORTH

City of Leicester Bor of Sunderland Burslem Bribar Hurnberside

2 SOUTH-EAST

Rejects I C 0 Milton Keynes Pillr Air Croydon Fellows Cranieigh

2 SOUTH-WEST

KB Gillingham Cheltenham Sarac Amity G2 Fareham WH Launceston II

3 EAST

Brit Ipswich II BSG Brentwood II Chelmsford League Fellows Cranieigh

3 NORTH

Ormesby Kinghurst Bribar Vymura Int'l II Uxbridge (Burton)

3 MIDLAND

NFD Grove colts Chan Construct II Larkhall II OLOP

3 SOUTH

NFD Grove IV Alpha Southampton Linda Rarrow WH Launceston III

8 0 Ellenbrough 2 8 Yugo Cars I 8 1 Bath Tyres I

2 6 W. Wartcks 8 0 Brit Ipswich 8 0 Norwich Fox 3 5 Liverpool

2 6 Bath Tyres II 0 8 NFD Grove III 2 6 Horsham Dolph 2 6 Colley Toyota

4 4 Chan Construct 0 8 Stephens NYSD 3 5 City of Leeds

2 6 Yugo Cars II

1 7 BSG Brentwood 6 2 Leckie 7 1 Joll' Poole 5 3 VRS Fareham

8 0 Gun Triangle 4 4 Edison 5 3 Horsham Dolph 3 5 Colley Toyota

3 5 L's Westfield 6 2 Ellenborough 5 3 Norwich Fox 6 2 Team Peniel

3 5 B' Sunderland 3 5 Stephens NYSD 7 1 LD Crusaders 1 7 Vr Warrington

5 3 Bath'Thres 5 3 Thorns 5 3 Ashford (Kent) 6 2 Lambeth 4 T's

5 3 PD Newport 2 6 Rejects II 8 0 Ashford. Middx 3 5 JAGS SC

Grove topple Peniel

NFD GROVE I came out on top of this Premier Division battle of the giants with Team Peniel r. winning 8-3, when they travelled to The Peniel Academy, Brentwood, Essex, on Sunday 20th October 1991, writes John Wood.

Thirty six year old Desmond Doug­las won his three for Grove, proving that the young pretenders to his throne have a little way to go, before taking his crown.

Nicky Mason added two for Grove, with Chris Oldfield chipping in with one. But the crucial two match win­ning sets came in the doubles.

Grove's jubilant, Ian Marshall said, when interviewed after the match, "It was a good win for Grove with Michael O'Driscoll not available due to tonsilitis, and partnering Taylor with Douglas and Oldfield with Mason, was a gamble that worked."

Matthew Syed, John Holland and Steve Dorking won one each for Team Peniel.

Man of the Match was Peniel's Steve Dorking, who was awarded this honour by Peniel's Peter Linnecar, for his consistent performance of maxi­mum effort.

Running a close second for man of the match was umpire Dick Roffe.

PAGE 17

'1.. HALE%..General overview ENg/AND

by Tim Gautreau and Diccon Gray Introduction

THE 1991/92 Computer Ranking Scheme will be based on the proven Cana­dian Table Tennis Associa­tion Scheme which has been operational since its incep­tion in the early 70's. The ETTA Management Committee decided to adopt this scheme on 1st Septem­ber 1991. Subsequently through co-operation and

good will from the Canadi­ans, their Programme Co­ordinator, Tim Gautreau visited England for a week in September to assist in the installation of the scheme.

This scheme embodies many of the principles established during the considerable efforts ex­pended by Les Wooding on the previous scheme and has shown proven results and

acceptability to all levels of players in Canada.

Concept The "new' Scheme is based on the principle of establish­ing a RATING for each player, which accurately reflects the player's level relative to all other English players.

Therefore, the actual match result (irrespective of age) between two players or

in other words the 'head-to­head' confrontation is the most important element of the Scheme.

Each match results in a points exchange (winner gains points, loser loses points) proportional to the relative ratings of the two players.

Continued on Page 19

POINTS EXCHANGE TABLES EXPECTED WINS & LOSSES

EVENT WEIGHTING

WinlLoss Probability

%

Difference in

Rating Points

0.5

Points Gained by Winner

3.0

0-24 25 - 49 50 - 99

100 - 149 150 - 199 200 - 299 300 - 399 400 - 499

500 +

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

12 11 9 8 6 5 3 2 0

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

18 16 14 11

9 7 5 2 0

20 18 15 13 10 8 5 3 0

24 21 18 15 12 9 6 3 0

-4 -4 -3 -3 -2 -2 -1 -1 0

-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0

-8 -7 ' -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0

-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0

-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0

-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0

-8 -7 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0

UNEXPECTED WINS & LOSSES EVENT WEIGHTING

WinlLoss Difference in Probability

% Rating Points

0-24 25 - 49 50 - 99

100 - 149 150 - 199 200 - 299 300 - 399 400 - 499

500+

0.5 3.0

Points Gained by Winner

12 14 17 21 26 33 45 60 75

18 20 25 32 38 50 68 90 113

Men (Newbury) competing in theAVON 1. Paul Lewis The South West Southern Regional Trials atBob Murray 2. Andy Creed Preliminary Regional Trialsheld at Southampton, the door was open 3. DicconGray Wellington saw most of Avon's for a new star to emerge from the

AVON PLAYED HOST, on the 4. Chris Holley top juniors and cadets in action. junior ranks. Joanna Stone from weekend of 28th and 29th 5. Steve Bettison TomOrlik'sEngland ranking of 18 Bracknell answered the call, she September, to the ftrst series of 6. Gary Baldwin gavehimexemptionfromtheCadet remained unbeaten throughout the matches in Senior Division lB. 7. Hugh Dalton boys event and he will be eagerly day, a tribute toherregularpractice Bath Sports Centre once again 8. Ian Johnson looking forward to the National throughout the summer months. proved a superb venue for this type 9. Clive Ellison Trials. Hopefully he will not be Lucy Turton from the Trench of event and an excellent 10. Bob Murray alone as fme performances from Green coaching squad ftnished a weekend's table tennis ensued. Colin Butterworth, Barry Fudge, creditable second and a youngster

From Avon's point ofview it Ladies Graham Long, Matthew Pullin, to look out for in 1992, Susan was a successful weekend on the 1. Varsha Majmudar Ross McDonald, Rachel Rosewell Johnson, tookthefourthspotbehind table as well as off. Four 2. Michele Cohen and Jessica Orlik have qualifted another potential star, Nikki comprehensive wins from the four 3. Helen Perrott them for the fmal South West Spence. The top eight girls were: matches played gives us a share of 4. Carey Webb Regional Trial also to be held at the lead with Essex in the Division 5. Debbie Booy Wellington where they will be 1. Joanne Stone (R,B) and means there is everything to 6. Sue Lovell looking to progress further. 2. Lucy Turon (R),play for when the teams get 7. Sarah Kettle 3. Nikki Spence (R) together again in February. 8. Julie Westall Bath and District League 4. Susan Johnson R,B Avon's results were as follows: 9. Dina Sandford The Bath League has an extra two 5. Joanna Hyde (N) vs Wiltshire 9-1 teams this season to bring the 6. Vicky Montgomery (R)vs Middlesex II 7-3 Veteran Men total to 65. Denis Swift and Mike 7. Sarah Crone (N)vs Devon II ~ 1. John Higgs Clare have got together a team of 8. Danielle Montgomery (R) vs Worcestershire 9-1 2. Dave Price youngsters who will playas (R) Reading (B) Bracknell

3. Mike Kimber Larkhall United Reformed Church (N) Newbury (M) Maidenhead Varsha Majmudar was in 4. Geoff Douglas and Bath Lawn Tennis Club must devastating form with a maximum 5. Ernie Brown be looking to keep their eye in The Junior Boys also produced eight victories and she was well 6. Paul Etherington during the winter as they appear in somesurprises. Richard Pilkington supported by Michele Cohen who 7. Len Upward the league for the fll'St time. (R) who fmished ninth last year, ingainingsix successesmaintained 8. Dennis Coombes Oldfteld, with virtually an headed a strong junior groupher noticeable improvement this 9. Chris Curl unchanged side, will be warm winning all his matches, barone, in session. On the men's side Paul 10. Maurice Cohen favourites to lift the Premier title straight sets. His only defeat all Lewis and Andy Creed once again for the third season running day was at the hands of Anthonyshowed outstandingform in taking Veteran Ladies although Longwell Green and Rotunno (M) 21-12,12-21,16-21. 7 wins each from their 8 matches. 1. Jan Kettle Mayfteld will be hoping to push No.1 seedRichardWoolven-Allen Diccon Gray with 1 win and Steve 2. Muriel Lewis them all the way. played his usual ftghting table Bettison with 2 wins also made 3. Janet Achurch tennis. However, he was under timely contributions. 4. June Watts Bristol League extreme pressure living up to his

Of course the success of 5. Bridget Pankhurst Itwill be amajorsurprise ifNailsea No.1 spot and just failed to clinch these weekend events depends Leopards are not retaining their one or two vitalpoints. Maidenhead heavily on the administration and Junior Boys Premier Division title come next filled third and fourth spots in the availability ofumpires and via this 1. Colin Butterworth April. Withanunchanged squad of form of Des Shictam and Anthony column I would like to express the 2. Barry Fudge Brian Reeves, Steve Bettison, Rotunno, while Newbury's Ian thanks of the Avon Executive to 3. Martin Smith Gary Baldwin and Paul Lewis Barratt improved two places on Pat Archdale, Eric Wynn, Peter 4. David Reeves looking far and away the strongest last year to take the runner up spot. Sandford, Dave Bull, Mike 5. Jon Thorn in the division, the main interest The top 12 boys were: Hawkins and last but not least 6. Graham Long * will probably focus on the runners Bernard Nash for their sterling 7. Mike Button up spot where Knowle and 1. Richard Pilkington (R) work. 8. Tom Orlik * Brislington 'A' and Bristol Club 2. Ian Barratt (N)

The newly formed Avon 9. James Godwin 'B' can be expected to lead the 3. Des Shictam (M)Veterans side also took advantage 10. Alan Burns challenge. 4. Anthony Rotunno (M)of Bath Sports Centre's facilities * Also indicates Cadet Boy 5. Richard Woolven-Allen (R) when entertaining Wiltshire II's in 6. Ian Bellinger (M) a Veterans Division 2 fixture. Junior Girls 7. Lindsay West (M)Despite trailing 1-3 at one stage 1. Kelly Harris 8. John McClure (R) BERKSHIREthey recovered to win6-3 with John 2. Rachel Rosewell * 9. Russell Astin (M)Higgs, Mike Kimber (2), Geoff John Cunningham

3. Jessica Orlik * 10. Daniel Nickolson (M)Douglas and Jan Kettle all 4. Lizzie McDonald 11. Robert Powles (B) contributing with singles wins and Berkshire Junior Trials5. Emma Price * 12. Nick McAdden (B)John and Mike combining to take This year's trials were held on6. Claire Smythe * the men's doubles. Sunday 15thSeptemberat Altwood 7. Debbie Maxted As with the young ladies, the top

Following the weekend's School, Maidenhead. With the No. 8. Andrea Long * three Junior Boys, Ben Johnson matches the Avon selectors met 1player in the girls section exempt 9. Emma Norman * and agreed the following ranking and Caroline Goatly, HelenGoatly 10. Sarah Ainsworth * lists: (Reading) and Joanne Barratt* Also indicates Cadet Girl

(R), Robert Dawson (N) and Ali Subhan (R), together with No. 10 seed Andrew Dyke (R) did not take part as they were at the Regional Trials. Mind you, the way Richard Pilkington is playing they all better watch out this season. The youngsters would like to thankDavid Langley and all the adults who once again organised a successful event.

BUCKINGHAMSmRE Ron Hedley

A NEW SEASON begins and the County Committee remains unchanged. Yet again there were no votes forplaces toruntheCounty affairs. Unfortunately as in most areas of sport there seems to be less interest from people wishing to put something back into sport. As usual the few are doing too many jobs and eventually they are doing far more than they can cope with and their efficiency declines or they are pushed into doing so much that they have enough and they need three or four people to replace them. Let's see some of the people who criticise come forward to do the jobs. Mind, if all the moaners came forward we would have far too many people!

The county teams will be competing with two senior, one junior and one veteran team. This is a reduction of one veteran team on last season and reflects the retirement of two county stalwarts in Alec Watson and Les Wooding and to the lack of female players. At the present time we have only two women available and although many people felt that we could run two teams with only two women it was decided against. This would appear to be vindicated by the fact that the No. 1woman is unavailable for two of the matches. It should also be noted that we only have five men who have put themselves forward for selection.

On writing these notes, the Senior 1st team have already competed in the first session on their promotion to the Senior Division 1. This was held in Bath and we came away with three wins and one defeat at the hands of Essex. Phil Bradbury won 7-8, John Burleton 5-8, Steve

Cowley 4-6, Nikki Cowley 4-4 and Jacquie Lovell 1-4 contributed to Bucks' wins. Unfortunately Nikki was injured and missed the last two matches. Essex look favourites to win the division but Bucks and Avon will make them fight all the way in February.

The second team play five matches on 12/13th October at Haylemere Youth Centre, High Wycombe and expect to field a young side so they can gain experience. We shall have a lot of work to do during the weekend and here's hoping it is a success.

High Wycombe League The Wycombe League have been busy organising the new venue at Haylemere and will be staging three sessions of the men's inter league at the venue. The county will also be using the venue to stage the Senior 2nd team session matches against Cornwall, Herts, Essex, Kent and Hampshire.

The venue has been available to league players each Saturday morning during September for practise but unfortunately few players took up the opportunity. On the final Saturday Nicky Jarvis of Jarvis Sports Ltd came and gave people an opportunity to try various bats and rubbers and several people took up the offer.

The league were asked at the AGM to organise a social function during the season and a Barn Dance has been organised for March. With the league's 50th Anniversary four years away, a fund has beensetup to raise enough money to put on a gala celebration. Each player has been levied 50p to provide the fmance and a great celebration is planned.

CORNWALL

THERE HAVE BEEN dramatic changes in the British League scene with White Hart Launceston and DMLPlymouth amalgamating in the close season to form one large club. Thenew setup has been masterminded by Cornish table tennis guru Peter Hancock and his band of helpers from North Cornwall. The newly formed club DML White Hart Launceston now boasts three teams competing in

Division 1 South, 2 South West and 3 South with one of the best setups in the League. Full marks to Peter Hancock for his superb efforts and hopefully results over the seasonwill improve to givehim the rewards he deserves.

The Launceston club is now the only British League club west of Bath and now seems a far cry from BritishLeague intheregion in the early eighties. In those days Launceston, Plymouth and Torbay would all do battle against each other in Division 3 West. Launceston now accommodates players remaining from those clubs whilst also providing an incentive for the younger players to break into the British League scene.

Players registered for the coming 1991/92 season include: John Bassett, Rachel Boon, Greg Bridgett, Kevin Buddell, Susan BUddell, Carol Giles, Steve Giles, Martin Hussey, Mark James, Gary Lambert, John Maggs, Jonathon May, Jonathon Pocock, Malcolm Peters, Graham Read, Cara Rowe, Kevin Rowe, Martin Rowe, Elaine Short, Mike Short, Esme Stevenson, John Thorpe, Adrian Vincent, Anthony Virgoe, Paul Whiting, Gary Wilson, Jeremy Williams, Graham Worth and Kevin Worth.

CUMBRIA Gordon Brown

WHITEHAVEN LEAGUE ARE boasting 16 teams, eight in each of two divisions, this season.

Division 1: YMCA A, B and C, Mirehouse, Sports Centre A, Whitehaven News, Windscale A, Beckermet.

Division 2: Sports Centre B, Workington Boys Club A and B, YMCA D, Mirehouse B, Maryport Boys Club A and B, Windscale B.

There is the possibility of inter-league matches being re­introduced in Cumbria with Whitehaven expressing an interest in playing other Leagues. Some years ago the county had an inter­league competition.

Whitehaven have decided that no match shall be postponed. Any team unable to play is now forfeiting points. Also, every team had to pay their fees before playing

their first match this term. Fees were slow in being paid last season.

The possibility of re­introducing an individual tournament, probably including invitations to players from other leagues, is being investigated.

Re-elected at the Annual General Meeting were Chairman ­John Cotterill, Secretary - Tom Mitchell, Treasurer - Billy Manford, County Representatives - Gordon Brown and Lynn Blackburn.

DERBYSHIRE Malcolm Allsop

AFTER A SPELL in the Premier Division of the County Championships during which time the senior team won the championship, finished runners up and then relegated in a brief, eventful interlude, the county team returned to Division 1 with the problem of facing life without the Cookes and Billingtons, Alan and Sue Cooke being in Sweden and Brad and Julie Billington still recovering from injury.

Good news was the announced intention of John Holland and Nicola Deaton to be available if possible, 'veteran' Martin Kinsella still retaining interest and Philip Vickers regaining his fighting enthusiasm.

The County Senior team matches will be played over two weekends, the first in January at Lodge Moor, Sheffield and then in April at St Neots.

The County Junior 1st team opened their fixtures with a 7-3 victory despite the presence of Barry Forster in the Northumberland team. JackBoult, James Wheatley and David Purdy won a singles apiece with twins Katty and Louise Petty winning all four girls singles.

It was anticipated that the County Junior 2nd teamwould take time to settle as Michelle Fisher ~

was the only experienced player in the squad, so a 3-7 reverse at the hands of Lancashire 2nd was no surprise. Andrew Clayton won one singles to add to two from Michelle Fisher for Derbyshire's

successes, but Stuart McIntyre a result have been announced as 5. Ian Kennard (Brentwood) Raymond Powell, the was unfortunate to go down 22-24 follows: county's No. 7 Junior (to date) and 19-21 in the third game of his Under 12 Girls recently won the Kirklees Junior 2 two contests. Junior Boys 1. Verity Cleminson Star singles at Huddersfield,

In an effort to attract a larger 1. Cris Sladden (Dagenham) (Brentwood) beating Paul Butcher of Haywards entry to the County Closed 2. Ryan Savill (Southend) 2. Tracy Davies (Brentwood) Heath 18 and 21 in the ftnal, Powell Championships, an early 3. Paul Hudson (Dagenham) 3. Anna Cheesman then followed up this success by opportunity was taken to ftx the 4. Vincent Avery (Brentwood) (Brentwood) winning the doubles event in date so that players could ensure 5. Ben Ware (Brentwood) 4. Helen Lincoln (Brentwood) partnership with Barry Fosterfrom they would be available. They 6. Wayne Mitchell (Harlow) 5. Abigail Cleminson Newcastle. Powell who hails from have been provisionally arranged 7. Peter Worthington (Brentwood) Gloucester, is in his last year as a for 9thFebruary, eitherat Greasley (Brentwood) junior and is sponsored by the or the Derby Table Tennis Centre. 8. Andrew Taylor (Dagenham) Our Juniors only had one match in Sports Aid Foundation. So keep that date free! 9. Karl Grant (Brentwood) September. The third team made I understand that George

Uxbridge of Burton were 10. Kevin Mays (Burnham the long journey to Grantham to Novoth who as I stated in the pleased to record their ftrst win in play Lincs and came away with a August/September magazine, the British League after going Junior Girls nice 7-3 win. Duringthepreceding already the Gloucester City Coach through last season without 1. Linda Radford (Dagenham) week Andrew Taylor managed to - has now taken on added success. I was pleased to attend 2. Shelley Ruocco (Dagenham) injure himself so Kevin Mays responsibility in the form ofcounty their subsequent home match 3. Jenny Coleman (Brentwood) stepped in for his County debut. coach. George has already visited against Vale Royal of Warrington 4. Sarah Gardner (Chelmsford) He acquitted himself splendidly Cirencester, and one must assume where they were on the wrong end 5. Julie Rand (Brentwood) and in fact remained unbeaten that Cheltenham and Stroud will of a 1-7 result despite some close 6. Cathy Sibbald (Brentwood) along with Peter Worthington and be seeing him shortly. games. Garry Pestka played quite 7. Elizabeth Sibbald Karl Grant. The girls, from whom Meanwhile, assisted by Neil well but, not unexpectedly the (Brentwood) we normally expect 4 wins, Henry, George continues his City youngster was nervous on his 8. Michelle King (Harlow) managed only one, and the big coaching at Oxstalls School every British League debut. Steve Shaw 9. Verity Cleminson surprise for us was that Cathy Thursday night, other coaching in gained Uxbridge's only success (Brentwood) Sibbald did not win any! the area is being well handled by and I was pleased to witness an 10. Tracy Davies (Brentwood) Compensation, although Roy and Judy Morley plus Mike improvement in his temperament possibly causing consternation in Flynn at the Crypt School, Julie and personality to a level that I had Cadet Boys the Sibbald household, came when Hogarth continues her sessions at not anticipated he would achieve, 1. Vincent Avery (Brentwood) big sister Elizabeth scored a great Newent and Steve Cox in charge and even more pleased to admit 2. Stephen Joslin (Chelmsford) win over Catherine Challis. over at Cheltenham, at Stroud Bob that I have been proved wrong (but 3. Ben Linnecar (Brentwood) Other junior activities during Brownand DaveWyatt and helpers don't tell anybody!). 4. Barry Mays (Burnham) September were a visit to Ashford do, the best that they can upon the

5. Alex Yardy (Brentwood) inKent for a series ofdevelopment coaching scene. So looking at the 6. Stephen Linnecar matches against our hosts. Ten coaching spectrum in general, I do

(Brentwood boys, none of whom had not think that the county has very 7. Nicky Lapwood (Brentwood) represented the county, took part much to worry about. 8. Reagan Nettlingham in4 matches, and our thanks to Bob Cheltenham Saracens, ESSEX

(Brentwood) Taylor for making the Gloucestershire's sole entry in the Alan Shepherd 9. Sam Cleminson arrangements. British League (at the time of (Brentwood) writing) have played two matches

OUR SENIOR TEAM made the 10. Kevin Lim (Brentwood) - in their last encounter with best possible start in their bid to Gunnersbury Triangle away,reclaim Premier Division status, Cadet Girls Saracens gained a 5-3 victory, in GLOUCESTERSHIREwhenthey tookonSussex II, Avon, 1. Shelley Ruocco (Dagenham) their second match at home with Bucks and Devon II in Avon, Alf Pepperd 2. Verity Cleminson Edison TIC both teams ended up winning all four matches. Now all (Brentwood) with a favourable draw. we have to do is to win the APOLOGIES TO ALL3. Tracy Davies (Brentwood) The County table tennis remaining three matches in Gloucestrians for the total absence 4. Melanie Sharp (Brentwood) selectors have releases the February in our own County and of County News of last month's5. Anna Cleminson following 1991/92rankingslist,and Essex will be back where they 20 lst edition, this is the first tBrentwood) emphasise that they are only for belong. County report that I have missed 6. Helen Lincoln (Brentwood) county team selection purposes

Senior Match Secretary Bill since the 122nd issue in November 7. Abigail Cleminson and press. Wadling is to be congratulated on 1981 - I plead forgiveness. (Brentwood) his astute selection of the fast Gill Smith, the County's 8. Nikki Kennard (Chelmsford) Senior Men improving Jason Tendler and much valued umpires secretary 9. Luisa Matta (Brentwood) 1. Darren Griffin (G) Martin Cole to team up with Des took 21 youngsters, of which 8 10. Karen Mason (Brentwood) 2. Dave Harvey (C) Charlery, Grant Solder, Alison were table tennis players, with 3. Raymond Powell (G) Gower and Linda Radford, in the ages ranging from 11 to 15 toUnder 12 Boys 4. Graham Slack (C) unavoidable absence of our No. 1 Gottingen - Cheltenham's twin1. Ben Linnecar (Brentwood) 5. William Dawe (G) man, Steve Dorking. Well done, town in Germany, on an all sports2. Stephen Linnecar 6. David Smith (G) everybody! tour, table tennis was played, but (Brentwood) 7. Guy Greening (C)

As reported last month, we enjoyed in a light hearted manner, 3. Sam Cleminson 8. John Turner (C)have now held our Junior Ranking nevertheless - I understand that a (Brentwood) 9. Sylvester Callum (G) Trials, and the leading positions as great time was had by one and all. 4. DavidColeman (Brentwood) 10. Jeremy Hyatt (G)

11. Dale Saunders (G) Cirencester; S - Stroud; G ­ 4b Andrew Liu Kilin (B) team leader of the Englishumpires 12. Alan Giles (S) Gloucester 5. Gareth Scadden (GF) travelling to Sweden in November. 13. Denis Holland (G) 6. Robert Praine (S) Mick will be joined at the English 14. John Fannin (G) These county rankings are issued 7. Peter Childs (GF) International (Open) in 15. Frank Jones by Alf Pepperd, County and South 8. Paul Shutler (GF) Birmingham in January by Harry

West Regional Press/Publicity 9. Kevin Smith (P) Spraggs and yours truly. Senior Women OfficerJETIA. Tel: 0452 840599 10. Terry Farnham (B) Three Southampton schools, 1. Heather Tyrer (G) Bitterne Park and Weston Park 2. Alison Cox (C) Junior Girls Boys Secondary and St Marys 3. Judy Morley (G) 1. Caroline Newling-Ward (A) College, will shortly be taking 4. Christine Williams (G) 2. Heidi Wheaton (P) delivery ofa brandnew table tennis 5. Cathy Robb (C) HAMPSHIRE 3. Caroline Cook (S) table, each as a result of a 6. Jacqui Carver (C) 7. Angela Bristow (G) Brian Lamerton 4. Laura Brown (An)

5. Donna Granville (P) successful development grant application by the Southampton

8. Julie Taylor (C) 9. Julie Hogarth (G) 10. Linda Probert (C)

Veteran Men 1. Dave Harvey (C) 2. Alan Giles (S)

AFfER THE DIFFICULTY of forming a men's ranking list reported inmy lastcohunnasecond selected men's ranking meeting took place and the following is the published results.

6. Carly Scadden (GF)

CODE: P - Portsmouth; S ­Southampton; B - Basingstoke; GF - Gosport and Fareham; An ­Andover

Association. I would have liked to have

ended by announcing that all member associations have increased membership this season but whilst this is the case with my own Association Southampton, a

3. John Fannin (G) 4. Denis Holland (G) 5. Frank Jones (G) 6. Roy Fowler (C) 7. Roy Morley (G) 8. Peter Wood (G) 9. Don Sweeney (G) 10. Tony Hogarth (G) 11. David Shill (G) 12. Roger Beard (G) 13. Ken Smith (C) 14. Ray Poole (G) 15. George Van Sant (S)

Senior Men 1. Graham Toole (P) 2. Micki Sinanan (P) 3. Mark Bleakley (P) 4a Andrew Ely (S) 4b Mark Wilding (P) 5. Jeff Giles (S) 6. Graham Pointer (S) 7. Mark Thome (S) 8. Tony Reynolds (B) 9. Tony Catt (S) 10. Mark Shutler (GF)

The 4b rankings are in respect of players who wish to be considered only in an emergency due to studies (Andrew Liu Kilin) and other interests (Mark Wilding).

Although Ramesh Bhalla was unable to attend either ranking meetings it is surprising to see last season's leading player (90% average) omitted altogether. My best is that a revised ranking list will help me fill next month's column.

complete lack of any report from the othernine leavesme reluctantly realising that my wish was but a dream.

STOP PRESS: Two wins, one draw and two defeats was the record from the opening day County Championship results with Graham Toole, Mark Bleakley and Sarah Hammond leading the Senior A side home by 7 sets to 3 against Berkshire 2nds.

Veteran Ladies 1. July Morley (G) 2. Sheila Matthews (C) 3. Jean Golding (S) 4. Vivian Hathaway (G) 5. Roz Ross (S) 6. Barbara Davis (G) 7. Anne Smith (G)

Senior Ladies 1. Sarah Hammond (S) 2. Sarah Turner (S) 3. Serena Sinanan (P) 4. Clare Woodham (A) 5. Barbara Savage (A)

Veteran Men I. Chris Shetler (S)

Congratulations to Caroline Newling-Ward who has qualified through to the final regional qualifying rounds.

Juniors: Jeremy Wilson, Kevin Macken and Mark Giles; Cadets: Andrew Jenkins and Gareth Scadden.

With the moving of the

HERTFORDSHIRE John Wood

STAR OF THE Hertfordshire Senior County Trials was young DuncanTaylor, who beat everyone

Junior Boys 1. Raymond Powell (G) 2. Jeremy Hyatt (G) 3. Leigh Nelmes (G) 4. Peter Hayward (S) 5. Tim Dewick (G) 6. Jamie Day (G) 7. Martin Chueng (Cir) 8. Andrew Ind (C) 9. Tim Knott (C) 10. Peter Dupree (G) 11. Arron Mortimor (G) 12. Jan Kellor (G)

2. Graham Lynch (P) 3. Graham Outrim (A) 4. Ken Giles (S) 5. Bob Cox (P) 6. Ken Burton (P) 7. Norman Stagg (P) 8. Ray Lush (P) 9. Maurice Shave (S) 10. Charlie Childs (P)

Veteran Ladies 1. Vera Hutchinson (A) 2. Mary Barroh (P) 3. Pat Wales (P)

Wiltshire JuniorOpen to Salisbury, 14 miles from Hampshire's borders, it was disappointing to note only 3 Hampshire names amongst the 200 entrants. Of those only two turned up but although Mark Giles and Jeremy Wilson each won their respective groups, they found the opposition tough thereafter. Never mind, they are now well ahead of the others in terms of experience. I am told that youngsters look to the magazine to see their names in print but that

else, excepthis dad, John, to whom he lost in three, having won the second 21-6.

John Taylor did lose though, when Watford's Peter Harris hit through Taylor's normally solid defence.

Unfortunately the Senior Trials were marred by players who didn't turn up.

Ranking Lists:

Senior MeTt-

Junior Girls 4. Ann Abraham (GF) mention has to be earned. 1. John Taylor (Bamets)

1. Kerry Hogarth (G) 2. Emma Parker (S) 3. Elaine Bassett (S)

4. Sarah Dean (S)

5. Julia Mullarney (C) 6. Anna Grange (S)

CODE: C - Cheltenham; Cir -

5. Gill Larking (B) 6. Avril Waters (B)

Junior Boys 1. Kevin Macken (B) 2. Jeremy Wilson (An) 3. David Dobson (S) 4a Mark Giles (S)

Also seen at Salisbury (and I was there in my blue jacket to see all this) were Wendy Lewis and David Wiles who were observing points as part of their coaching qualification.

Congratulations to Mike Strode who has been selected as

2. Keith Samuels (N Herts) 3. Peter Harris (Watford) 4. Duncan Taylor (Barnets) S. Rob Liquorish (H

Hempstead) 6. John Lennon (Cheshunt) 7. Glen Wilkes (H Hempstead) 8. Ian Black (St Albans)

9. Derek Rogers (Cheshunt) with fine support from Martin We put the few hundred pounds Rotherhithe League are sending a 10. Dave Seaholme (Watford) Mitchell and Heather Wykes, our we got to very good use. Quite a junior squad to Sweden for match 11. Tom Carr (Cheshunt) new Secretary. few young players also play on the play also beginning the weekofthe 12. Chris Budden (N Herts) We began with a defeat fringes with every prospect that 19th October. 13. Peter Brownlow (Barnets) against Faroe Isles (5-2), a team they may graduate to league play I am pleased to report 14. Gary Keers (H Hempstead) who have competed in the full in future seasons. This is the encouraging results from our 15. Michael Danson (Cheshunt) European Championships, though direct result of summer coaching juniors at the recent Wiltshire 2 16. Chris Marlowe (Cheshunt) not with quite the success they and general play we were able to Star Open at Salisbury. Pride of

enjoyed here! From then it was introduce. place goes to Lesley Hollingworth Senior Women success all the way with victories who in partnership with Claire 1. Emma Hurling (H against Asland (6-1), Shetland (7­ Pengelly, won the junior girls

Hempstead) 0) and the Isle ofMan (5-2). Three doubles, beating Lyndsey 2. Maria Williams (Barnets) out of four with by no means our Heyward and Jennifer Coleman in KENT 3. Caroline Seaholme (Watford) strongest team must be regarded the fmal. Crystal Hall and Joanne Adrian Hall 4. Sarah Seaholme (Watford) as an excellent effort. We hope to Barham narrowly lost the cadet 5. Caroline Boxall (Cheshunt) do even better when the event girls doubles fma121-18, 21-18 to

KENT ARE BENEFITING from 6. Maggie Pavitt (Cheshunt) moves to the Isle ofWight in 1993. No. 1 seeds Shelley Ruocco and having Meng Qing Yu and Xu Kai 7. Lindsey Booth (N Herts) Something to look forward to. Glenda Ashison. Junior boys residentin the county for tenweeks, 8. Janice Laing (N Herts) Asland's line-up included a Martin Hewitt and Paul Duke ranked No.1 and 3 respectively as 9. Karen Morton (N Herts) name as well known as Walhers caused a major upset by reaching Under 17's in China and working in 10. Kim Hughes (Cheshunt) (Andrew) Blackadder! He did not the semi fmal of the doubles but conjunctionwith their coachWang 11. Talya Greenberg (Barnets) play against the Isle ofWightwhich then found Alex Perry and Richard Da Zhi from the international table presumablymade his team's defeat Hyacinth too much of a handful. tennis training centre in Tianjin The senior first team opened the inevitable. I had earlier Likewise Nicola Duke and they are spending time coaching in account in the County congratulated Peter Urry on Sussex's Sarah Stedman did well the county. Wang's brother, ex Championships with a great 8-2 reaching the quarter finals of the to reach the Junior girls doubles Chinese champion and at present victory against Bedfordshire II, singles. Much greater adulation semi fmal. Joanne Barhambecame coaching the Belgium National away at AC Delcos canteen in came to Petewhen a Swedishcoach the first cadet this season to topple teams spent an evening at the Dunstable. John Taylor won 2, complimentedhim onhis play with the high flying Shelley Ruocco in Northborough School in Maidstone Peter Harris won 1, John Lennon a hard bat- 'In ourcountry , said the the junior class 2 event and with the Maidstone cadet elite won his 2 as did Emma Hurling, Coach 'such bats are only used by progressed to the semi fmal before squad who trainunder the guidance whilst Maria Williams won 1. older players'. Pete, who is in his losing to combination play of of Alan Woollven. Both players Hertfordshire's Senior 3rd forties, was greatly encouraged in Catherine Woodward. are staying as guests of Kentteam won theirhome match against more ways than one. The Selection Committee Chairman Reg Thompson, having Staffordshire II, 5-2. Almost my first duty on being have issued a new Veterans been allowed out of their ownDuncan Taylor carried on elected as Chairman of the Ryde ranking list for the start of the country for the first time. 'Theirwhere he left off in the trials, Club was to call on our landlords 1991/2 season with Henry Buist strokeplay, technique and physical winning his two, with a sparkling with my colleagues to hear that our and Margaret Dignum retaining movement is vastly superior to display of defence and attack. rent had been doubled! Though a their No. 1 positions. anything we have seen in this Firstly he overpowered Andy compromise was reached which country' said Mr Thompson 'even Stokes 6 and 8, then he beat Adrian reduced the increase from 100% to Veteran Men after the first coaching session Thorpe 18 and 18, to complete a 50%, we did not feel flushed with 1. Henry Buist there was marked improvement in memorable double, whilst Derek success. We live in times when 2. Clive Morris the children's play'. Other county Rogers, Tom Carr and Janice Laing the number of suitable premises is 3. Tom Adams players will get the opportunity to won one each. falling and rents are therefore 4. Dereck Emery play against them as they areMeanwhile, on the European rising. We compete with other 5. Graham French planning to compete in both the scene, Chris Budden flew the flag sports not only for members, but 6. Paul Beck Kent and South of Englandfor Hertfordshire when he won the also facilities. Few leagues, for 7. Keith CLark tournaments.European Police Championships various reasons, find sports 8. John White

Ten members of Kent Senior category B, men's singles title in centres suitable for league play. I 9. Dave Kellard and Junior squad are attending the Holland. get similar reports from all over the 10. George McGlone Belgium National training camp country. A numberofclubs live on week commencing the 19tha knife's edge, wondering whether Veteran Women October. Andy Cunningham, Phil their premises will be taken or 1. Margaret Dignum Cox, Spencer Thompson, Miles priced from themnext season. This 2. Joan Beadle ISLE OF WIGHT Willey, Martin Hewitt, Peteris the reality of sports like ours at 3. Pam Butcher John Prean Burrow, along with Julietthis time. 4. Madge Garlinge Houghton, Lesley Hollingworth, Nevertheless, we again 5. Marilyn Dudgeon

FURTHER NEWS FROM the Carly Riggs and Crystal Hall are increased ourmembership,moving 6. Brenda Aherne Inter-Island games, the mini­ making the trip due to the generous from 48 teams to 54 last season 7. Evelyn Gurr Olympics for small islands all over sponsorship of Roy Willey, this and to 56 now. Our fmgers are the world - we gained 5th place in will undoubtedly be the mostcrossed, so that late withdrawals The County for the first time in a the Team event, which was intensive camp that these players do not halt this good trend. If long time is to organise regular contested by line-ups of 2 men and will have attended and it is hoped repeated nationally, there would county trials which will count 1 lady. Alan Hulbert, who is the that the benefit will be there for all be much rejoicing. towards county ranking. Both the chairman of the Isle of Wight to see on their return. We found the ETTA's Seniors and Juniors have recently Association, played splendidly The Southwark and Development Fund a great help. had their first sessions and the

following are theplacementswhich Junior Girls Nicky Heaps, SidMontgomery and home with a 6-3 win under their were obtained, it must be stressed 1. Michelle Ritter JillKnight, andthe MensandMixed belts thanks to Phil Blake (2), that this is not an official ranking 2. Heidi Steers Doubles proved the winning Brian Clements (2), Tony Rigby list but will be taken into 3. Joanne Barham combination. (1) and the doubles. The Veterans consideration when county 4. Natasha Barham 2nds also took to the road and they rankings are announced. Chairman 5. Carly Riggs too triumphed 7-2 against Staffs of selectors Roy Willey will be 6. Crystal Hall withDerekWatmough(2),Nonnan pleased to hear from any league 7. Nicola Duke Thewlis and Keith Ward (1 each), who have players they feel should 8. Alison Smith both doubles and a win for Mabel LANCASHIRE be invited to partake in the trials. 9. Hayley Pizzey Neary against Shirley Boone as George Yates

10. Angie Bristow against two successes for Martin Senior Men 11. Claire Chamberlain Pickles.

LANCASHIRE'S THREE TOP1. Andy Cunningham 12. Rachel Woollven News from the Bolton Brady ranked women. namely Andrea 2. Justin Goodall 13. Carrie Blake League is that their chairman, holt, Maria Thornley and Mandy 3. Paul Rainford 14. Charlotte Eke Rupert DeRiggs is battlingWinskill, were all unavailable for 4. Ian Girdler 15. Jade Stutely valiantly against Stomach cancer the fIrst of the Senior Premier5. Chris Knight which is causing great distress to Weekends at St Neots over the6. Mark Green Cadet Boys his wife Majorie, son Vaughanweekend of 28/29th September as 7. Mark Romano 1. Paul Smith and daughter Yvonne as well as to was Jonathan Taylor who, like 8. David Griffiths 2. Adam Beasley all his colleaguesboth inthe bolton Miss Holt, had commitments9. Spencer Thompson 3. Scott Dawtry Brady League and elsewhere abroad.10. PhilCox 4. Jonathon Cheng throughout the county. One cannot

11. Phil Beven 5. Richard Farthing but admire the tremendous fIght he In the event the No.8 ranked12. Iozeph Okosieme 6. Anthon)' Lickfold is putting up and our prayers are

woman. Paula French, made the 13. Dave Davies 7. Alan Smith with him and his family. trip to St Neots, leaving the No's14. John Huckle 8. Lee Howes 4 and5TamarConnollyandBrenda 15. Pete Roberts Buoey to bolster the fortunes of *** Can you please note from9. Gareth Hill the second team who had a home August/September's16. Brian Mileham 10. Ashley Steers match against Lincolnshire. But Lancashire Notes:17. Chris Ross 11. James Henderson this split left the [lISt team with a 18. Tony Dixon 12. Stephen New woman short and as a result two 19. Jeff Chapman 13. Lee Smith "Farnworth have merged with the sets were conceded in each of the20. Martin Gunn 14. Arron Campbell former Salford league" is incorrect three matches against Devon,21. Matthew king 15. Robert Gates and the correct statement should Berkshire and Surrey. 22. Ian Brown 16. Nick Stokes read:

Two wins for Andrew Eden 23. Lee Nicholls and a solo for Sean Gibson -he lost24. Miles Willey Our Juniors had another successful to Paul Whiting - was all that 25. Andy Duff weekend at the Grove H & E "URMSTON TABLE Lancashire could extract fromScaffolding 2 Star on 28/29th TENNIS LEAGUE HAVE Devon who won 7-3 but Eden (2) Senior Women September. Scott Friday AMALGA-MATED WITH Gibson (2) and Tony Taylor (2) got 1. Julie Thorn comfortably won the Boys Under THE SALFORD AND us home 6-4 against Berkshire. 2. Sandra Collins 12 and teamed up with brother FARNWORTH TABLE And, in the third encounter, it was 3. Marilyn Dudgeon Ross to unexpectedly reach the TENNIS LEAGUE" Gibson (2), Eden and Taylor (14. Jackie Mersh Cadet Doubles [mal, only to come each) plus a win for Paula French 5. Jane Robinson runners up. It was left to Alison against Gillian Blanch that divided 6. Carol Holmwood Smith and Clare Newns the spoils against Surrey. 7. Lin Martin (Birkenhead) to go one better and LEICESTERSHIREMeantime it was a 10-0 8. Karen May take the Cadet Girls title. Crystal whitewash that was inflicted on Derek ButtHall did well to reach the Under 17 Lincolnshire by Lancashire 2nds Junior Boys Class B [mal. at Blackpool in the SeniorDivision NOT TOO MUCH to report on at1. Martin Hewitt The county teams made their 2A, all going well for Graham the time of writing except that the 2. Paul Duke fIrst outings of the season but I Clarke, Nigel Eckersley, Paul season is now in fully swing, the 3. Glen Ritchie have only two results to hand so Hutchings, Tamar Connolly and Leicesterand DistrictTable Tennis 4. Craig Hastie far. Junior 1 drew with Gloucester Brenda Buoey. League have ten full divisions and 5. Peter Burrow 1, 5-5, Lesley Hollingworth and

Playing at Woodland Loughborough have three. 6. Ben McCarthy Natasha Barham were Kent's Grange, Preston, the Junior 2nds The Elbow Tankard 7. Duncan Cross stars winning all their singles with opened up their fIxtures with a 7­ (Summer League) has now been 8. Sam Corcoran Paul Duke chipping in with one to 3win against Derbyshire 2ndswith completed and after fIve groups 9. Christopher Hall get Kent the draw. Last season's Kevin Dolder (2), Philip Musgrove fought out a round robin. the top 10. Christian Thompson all conquering Vets II started this (2), Mark Stevens (1), Lindsey sixteenpositionswentforward into 11. Jason Cheeseman campaign on the wrong end of a 5­Thornton (1) and Jayne SchofIeld a knock-out stage. 12. Alan Crowe 4 result against Berkshire I, Kent's (1) all taking a hand in the The Semi Final and Final 13. Charlie Chamberlain Keith Clarke and John White both proceedings. results were as follows: 14. Robert Waller producedsplendidplayfor two wins

Not to be outdone the 15. Daniel Cheeseman apiece but on this occasion Dave Veteran 1st team travelled to Semi Final16. Nick Hebbs Kellard and Joan Beadle were engage Oxfordshire and returned The Cads 11 Freddies Hero's 12unable to assist, for Berkshire's

Park Keepers 6 Bali Hi 14

Final Freddies Hero's 13 Bali Hi 7

Bob Smith was the Hero's hero (if you will excuse the pun) winning five out of his six sets. On the winning trail Freddies Hero's beat three fancied teams, Royal Mail, Summer Knights (Knighton Park) and The Cads (GEC).

On the coaching scene Harry Ward tells me that a group of schoolchildrenfromAvenueSchool in Leicester, about twenty in all, are takingpart inacoaching session during their lunchtimes. Approximately two thirds of these have notplayed table tennis before.

It is still hoped that the scheme at the Mary Linwood School is going to take place on Saturday mornings. This has all got to be good for our game.

The County Junior team in Division 2A were beaten 10-0 by a very strong Cheshire side, but will have gained a lot of experience.

MIDDLESEX Iris Moss

ONCE AGAIN I must start my report with the sad news that we have lost another of our Vice Presidents. Alan Curry, who died on 13th September, was a Director of Curry's (the well-known electrical supplier) before it was 'taken over' by a larger fum, and played table tennis regularly in the old North Acton League.

After his retirement from business he went to live in Oxfordshire but still came up to London for the 3 Star Open Championships and on other occasions connected with the League. Alan was very popular with all who knew him and will be sadly missed by his many friends in Middlesex, particularly in the West Middlesex League area.

The first Senior Premier Weekend has resulted in both Middlesex and Devon being unbeaten but with Middlesex at the top of the table by one game. Our team beat Berkshire 10-0; Surrey 8-2 and Sussex 9-1. Well done our team; keep it up. I have not had any news about our other teams but no doubt their results

will be included elsewhere in the magazine.

It is hoped that the Middlesex Closed Championships will take placeover the weekend of 21st and 22nd March 1992 at the Tottenham Sports Centre. It was decided that we would combine the Junior and Senior Championships once against because of the difficulty of fmding two suitable weekends in the over-crowded calendar. So Middlesex players, make a note of the date and ENTER.

By the time this article appears in print, the entry forms for the Middlesex 3 Star Open Championships will be out, and I hope, most of them will have been sent in. But with the closing date not until 14th November, you still have time to enter if you have not already done so. Entry forms are available from me (081203 4476) but pleasedon't telephone too early in the morning! See you all at Picketts Lock on 7th December.

NORFOLK Ray Hogg

OUR FIRST OBSTACLE of the season is over - namely a County Committee meeting. Trying to fix a date to please all is impossible, so dates have been set in advance so that members of the committee have a chance to reserve that date. At that first meeting member leagues reported that on average they were about the same as last season.

Big efforts are being made by Wymondham and Dereham Leagues to encourage youngsters by starting a youth division. We look forward to hearing of this progress and possible expansion to other leagues. Like many counties, fmance reared its ugly head with the Treasurer reported that she had managed to raise £100 in sponsorship and was organising a Jumble Sale (which raised £150) by the efforts of the few. This, togetherwith the normal inputfrom the leagues should see us through this season provided we have a good entry for the County Championships on 7/8th December. A budget is to be produced predicting possible loss!

profit this seasonand all committee members are to be circulated with suggestions on funding teams for next season.

This will include the possibility of players having to contribute towards the expenses ­something that Norfolk has never had even to think ofbefore. It is all the veterans fault.

All county teams in action on the first day of the season started well with the Veterans 1st and both Junior teams winning and our seniors despite the absence of Neil Pickard (Holiday) and PhilLogsdon (ill), managed a draw. This match was notable for the long overdue debut of Chris Brewer from Kings Lynn who responded by winning both his singles comfortably including one over GeoffDavies. I hope he gets selected again as next season he will be a veteran and no doubt required there. There is life outside Norwich.

After my comments regarding the Juniors having no one to ask advice of, the twins Richard and Martynhave arranged that one of them will be present at all matches home or away. This should give the younger players more confidence.

Norwich Foxwood British League have entered a second team for the first time and the response from invited players has been terrific with the likes ofSteve Sadd, Shaun Molloy, Trevor Bunn, Pat McCloughametcbeing givenanew lease oflife with something to play for.

NORTHAMPfONSHIRE Dennis Millman

TWELVE MONTHS AGO Julian Marshall, a hot faourite for the Express Spors Junior Top 12, carried all before him until he was well beaten by Sally Russell in a second phase match, and it was Miss Russell who went on to take the coveted trophy.

This year, under a new format which omitted phase two, the respective No 1 boys and girls - didn't meet until the fmal crucial match of the event. This time there was a vastly different result with Marshall the master in every aspectofthe game,but inparticular his fleetness of foot and his power

to shot posing problems to which the holder had no answers.

Earlier in the groups, both players had coasted throughout without conceding an end, with PaulSmith the only playerto extend Miss Russell, but even he, after losing the first game at deuce, fell away badly in the second. Meanwhile, Marshall was so dominant that only MarkCornforth was twice able to reach double figures, as the eventual champion surrendered a miserly 96 points in his six successes. Other noteworthy winners at this stage were MarkAdams against younger brother Paul, and the improving Helen Watts who had an impressive victory overDerekHill, before going close against Adams, only to go down at 17 in the decider.

With the players now placed in groups of 4, the winner had to come from Group A - Marshall, Russell, Smith and Adams. Marshall found Smith a tough proposition, with Smith initially holding the ascendancy, his backhand effectively blocking Marshall's lefthand loop,but when Marshall switched the direction of his attack, he ran out a comfortable winner and moved on to a one­sided fmal before receiving the trophy from CountyViceChairman Ken Marchant.

Final Placings 1. Julian Marshall 2. Sally Russell 3. Mark Adams 4. Paul Smith 5. Tom Trippett 6. Paul Adams 7. Helen Watts 8. Paul Wood 9. Clare Hickman 10. Derek Hill 11. Martin Gibbs 12. Martin Cornforth

In the Pennine Senior Top 12, sponsored by the Kettering League player Gerald Finney's Pennine Designer Packing and Display, the absence of Graham McKim and Andy Edmonds pointed to a repeat oflast year's fmal between Kieron Dabbs and Ian Hawes. In Group 1 Dabbs started well with three easy wins before being confronted by Steve Silk and Rafe Miller who both extended him fully before Dabbs came through to complete a clean sheet. Chris Handshaw was in even better form in this section

butprovedno matchfor Dabbs and had to be content with second place.

The first surprise in Group 2 came when Richard Elliott lost his very first rubber to Mick Spear and then went very close to defeat against Ashley Bennett before re­asserting himself in the decider. Meanwhile the Dabbs/Hawes looked even more likely when Hawes took his first three matches comfortably and then survived his usual traumatic encounter with Team Electric colleague Steve West on a third end deuce. However, Elliott had been improving steadily and in the fifteenthand[mal game inthe group he wore down Hawes to win -17, 15 and 7.

The stage was now set for the second and [mal phase - three groups of 4. Group C saw Mick Spear, who had already accounted for West, add wins over John Moloney and late reserve Ryan Keates, West gained his only wins of the day, and Keates finished ahead of Moloney as scant reward for some superb performances against all opposition.

Group B was much more evenly contested with Rafe Miller, who had lost to Silk earlier, now dominating exchanges to finish fust, and Silk slipping to fourth place after defeats at the hands of Bennett and Steve Brown.

With the earlier group wins of Dabbs over Handshaw, and Elliott over Hawes, standing for the [mal count in Group A, the pressure was on Hawes to beat Dabbs and he started well, countering Dabbs' serves with astutely placed attacking shots, but gradually Dabbs made up the leeway to take the first to 19, and then looking a class apart, he took the second with consummate ease. Meanwhile Elltott trailed Handshaw until the fmal stages when his recent match practice for Levi Westfield paid rich dividends and he came through to face Dabbs in the fmal.

In the third place play-off, Handshaw again had the ascendancy when he led Hawes 11-8 in the third, but then Hawes moved up a gear and allowed Handshaw only two further points.

Dabbs, the artisan, used his athleticism to good effect in the fmal, and Elliott was submerged under a barrage of cracking

forehands and subtle backhands. However, Dabbs almost lost his way in the second as Elliott began to cope more than adequately with service and actually held a game point at 21-10 before Dabbs reasserted himself to take the fmal three points and so collected the trophy for the second time from Mrs Pat Finney, wife of the sponsor.

Final Placings 1. Kieron Dabbs 2. Richard Elliott 3. Ian Hawes 4. Chris Handshaw 5. Rafe Miller 6. Ashley Bennett 7. Steve Brown 8. Steve Silk 9. Mick Spear 10. Steve West 11. Ryan Keates 12. John Moloney

The County Championship season got off to a slow start with only one of Northants' six sides in action and in this, the newly promoted Juniors went down 7-3 to Staffordshire. However, excellent performances from the unbeaten Sally Russell and debutantes Paul Smith and Mark Adams augurs well for the future.

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE Malcolm Allsop

WRITING THE THIRD (sixth???!!!) County Notes of the season in September is a strange experience, a comment that other county scribes may echo. Finding material may be difficult for many but I am pleased to report that Nottinghamshire table tennis is flourishing.

The County is running a senior team again this season, alongside the Junior and Veteran teams, and a successful start was made to the Halex County Championship campaign when all three teams scored victories.

Pride of place must go to the senior team for their 8-2 win over Huntingdonshire. The power of Lee Neil, Tim Sheppard and Junior Stoddart was formidable, and I believe these three have the ability to improve further. Angela Brettell

was a model of consistency, yet had to fight back from behind tin the second game of both her sets to clinch two 2-straight victories. Lorraine Smedley showed the strength of her powerful game yet allowed debut nerves to affect her consistency as she lost both her sets; with experience she will complement an impressive team under the leadership of Ralph Green - my admiration for his enthusiasm grows every time I meet this modest gentleman.

Playing for Huntingdonshire was Dianne Gutteridge (nee Maxfield) who many Nottingharnshire and Derbyshire players will recall from the days when she played in the area.

The county veterans gained a 6-3 win over Cheshire 2nd. The win was achieved without the top two players so Ron Bolton is confident of a good season.

The junior team had a convincing 8-2 victory over Cheshire 2nd where unfortunately the opposition could only field two boys. It does not encourage enthusiasm to travel some distance and only play one set.

County Umpires Secretary Brian Draycott is appealing for more umpires. He has test papers for anyone who wishes to contact him.

The Nottinghamshire Sports Training Scheme, run by Notts Leisure Services, continues to provide excellent opportunities for table tennis with over 100 children again attending the sessions throughout the county. This year they are at Newark Tech, Mansfield, Retford and Sycamore Centre, Nottingham.

The Leisure Services Department are looking for clubs to place these youngsters when they have passed through the scheme, which provides clubs and leagues with a continuous stream of possible recruits. The Nottinghamshire County Association are working with the Leagues to ensure that places are found for these youngsters and new clubs are being set up. One such club, started at the Grove, Newark, last year, is successful, but further assistance would be welcome.

Children on previous courses Mike and Kevin Green, Michelle and Ann-Marie Hayes and Sarah Smith have already

advanced tocounty representation, with Michellewinning herfust title at the end of September at Grove, Marketing, in the restricted event.

Schools development has just started with demonstrations being set up at Gedling School and Blue Bell Primary.

Nottingharnshire does not depend on the Leisure Services for all the coaching and the recruitment initiative is carried out at all levels. A session on Saturday evenings at the Sycamore Centre brings many senior players into help the youngsters with coaching and serious practice. More youngsters are welcome and Ralph Green wishes it to be known that everyone throughout the county, not just Nottingham, is welcome to attend.

In Mansfield, Paul Linfield is running sessions each Sunday at Berry Hill tea rooms - I don't know whether you get a half-time cuppa! Wednesday afternoons see coaching sessions, a challenge ladder and tournaments at the Kirkby Festival Hall, with Notts County Council Leisure Services advanced coaching on the first Tuesday of each month.

Only five more issues of Table Tennis News this season, but enough is happening in Nottingharnshire to fill them - so watch this space!

SOMERSET Andy Seward

WITH NO COUNTY matches to report on, a chance to review the county rankings for the fust half of the season. Rankings appear to generate more heat than any other topic, so at the riskofbeing burned, here is the latest deliberations by the Somerset jury!

The Veterans Ranking List shows few changes. Mike Baker, having recovered from injury, should resume his fust team place, leaving the improving Paul Hewitt and Graham Durdey to lead the second team challenge.

Mark Smith and Rob Millard are again the top two juniors but there are a number of newcomers in the rest of the list. The most interesting are the two Andrews, Hewitt and Rurnary, both sons of ranked veterans!

Nice to see Kate Gent back McCartney and Dowie 5 Star Jane isnowconfmned that the Worthing on the county scene after her Barella turned in her best League are to run the three major absence last season due to a performance for ages when event s- the all SussexSTAFFORDSHIRE successionofkneeoperations. She narrowly losing to Carol Giles of Championships (12th April), the Tony Cliftdeserves to have a successful Devon in the third. Devon must be Sussex Junior Championships and year. our bogey at the moment! the Sussex Inter-league

FOLLOWING AN INCREASED Championships. entry into the CountyVeteran Men County Championships Two venues at Worthing are Championships it came as a1. Brian Reeves The first Senior Premier Weekend in prospect - the Worthing Leisure fmancial blow to fmd 1st division 2. John Crabtree gave Surrey two unexpected draws Centre and the spacious Foresters matches are to be played on two 3. Mike Baker out of the 3 matches played. On Hall, a venue used many years ago weekends. Resources had already 4. Paul Hewitt paper we played the 3 top counties, for the NAtional Final of the Rose been stretched and the extra costs 5. Graham Durdey Middlesex, Yorkshire and Bowl with the then unmarried ­will cause problems. Chairman6. Alan Maidment Lancashire. On the Saturday an 8­ Diane and Rosalind Rowe winning Arthur Thomas considers it may 7. Andy Seward 2 loss to Middlesex and a draw the Bowl. not be possible to fmance teams in 8. Peter Butterworth against Yorkshire thanks to a Malcolm Francis and his future seasons if the same format 9. Martin Rwnary magnificent win by Jason Blake. company Express Sports of is continued. In the meantime, 10. Vernon Adams At the training session in the Uckfield is sponsoring the sponsorship would be gratefully restaurant on the Saturday night Worthing Leagueand that is behind accepted.Veteran Ladies the orders against Lancashire in the running of these events. All

Denis Butcher and Ron 1. Shirley Dark the morning were 2 from nicky and home county matches andalljunior Harveyhave arrangedtwocoaching 2. Wendy Pryce 4 from the ladies. Come Sunday events have a new Brighton venue sessions at Lilleshall (5th October 3. Diane Helsdon momingnicky loses 1as did Gillian - it is the Newman School at Hove, and 14th December). Players of Blanch on her debut for Surrey. 5­ where Peter Burdock will be the various standards will be invited. Junior Boys 4 doWn when Mick Hammond principal coach. The new junior

County League entries are 1. Rob Millard turned theranking listsupside down secretary will be Ian Brown of currently arriving and early2. Mark smith to force a draw. Better hopes for Brighton.indications suggest two divisions 3. Andrew Hewitt the next weekend when we should The Sussex Junior scene is involving a total of 12 teams.4. Alan Russell have our top men available. back on an even keel, so much so

The County Tournament is 5. Corin Webster You cannot but hope for that there is a possibility that the scheduled for 26th January 1992 at 6. Rob Fearn miracles (which is a change from a Sussex Junior2 Star Open could be White Hall Junior school, Walsall, 7. Andrew Rwnary pessimist). All the counties infor arevival and in additionanew closing date for entries (to me) is 8. James Hayne seemed to be without at least two 1 star junior event, probably at the 31st December. 9. Robert Horton of their top players except for Newman School.

At local league level the new 10 . Jason Papier Middlesex and Devon who both Ifield, the Crawley club who season is underway, Wolver­ won all their three matches. won the national club title are set hampton has 6 divisions involving Junior Girls to travel to Austria in the European 67 teams with Division 1 looking 1. Kate Gent Surrey Newsletter Nancy Evans Cup. There they will very strong. Pre-season title2. Julie Ashcroft At last it was published on 1st play an Austrian club that has the favourites will be from Moseley, 3. Claire Shobbrook October 1991. It is hoped to bea Czech No.1 Roland Vimy as their Springfields A, and Woodfield A bi-monthly free issue. If anyone star player. andC.Lots of successes at the Regional wants a copy or has articles and or Meanwhile at Horsham, the

Stafford supports 4 divisions Preliminary Trials held at comments, please ring me on 081 Dolphins, still looking for some of 44 teams. The keen Weston Wellington lastmonth, six through 3904068. sponsorship, are in second place in Club has been forced to play away to the fmals. That may not match Lastly, don't forget to enter the British League table, Division matches until its premises arethe Devon and Essex junior the Surrey Championships. Entry 1 (South), so they are looking for rebuilt. Leek have struggled to production lines but for Somerset, forms from Gail on 0483 728069. promotion.survive, but the 7 teams are keen six is historic! to give it a go. Mark Smith deserves a

specialmention for coming second in by far the strongest of the four SUSSEX WILTSHIRE groups. Rob Millard also came John Woodford Laurie Selbysecond in his group and when he SURREY starts to play well, then watch out! Terry Vance DESPITE THE PRESENCE of ALTHOUGH HIT BY a leg injury In the Junior Girls section, Kate

Adrian, Stephen andTeresa Moore Kevin Satchell still remains top ofGent and Julie Ashcroft duly WELCOME TO NIGEL Thomas and Ritchie Venner, Sussex failed the latest Wiltshire ranking lists. qualified for the fmals. Two more and Gillian Blanch who have now to conjure up two wins on the first There were few surprises in qualifiers in the Cadets - Andrew joined Surrey. They should make weekend of the Premier County the rankings which show Claire Rurnary who won his group and a great difference to our top county Championships, losing 4-6 to Hunter and Tracy Youldon still Claire Shobbrook. Congratulations squad. Yorkshire whose power-base was leading theirgroups. But the Junior to them all. Sally Marling and Kate Goodall. boys list is headed by Stuart Fry, Next month, news from the Tournament Results Sussex were without Janet followed by Alex Collar - a reversal local leagues and a report on the In the National Under 21 and Under Smith,once againonScotlandduty, of the positions in the Swindon first county matches. Thought for 17 event at Milton Keynes, the so her absence was costly. ranking list. the day: What is the defmition of only Surrey representative Darren On the administration front, a ranking list? Blake lost to Alex Perry of Devon there are some radical changes. It

in the Under 17 semi. At the

The Wiltshire Ranking lists are: one-day session for Swindon never studied Maths at school, season. Thank you Alan ­players. because many more hair-brained Sheffield's gain is our loss.

Senior Men Wiltshire table tennis has schemes like this will not only This term the League will be 1. K Satchell been given a great boost with leave the county withoutany funds, takenoverbyRodHullah, Secretary 2. TBroce Michael Auchterloniemovingback but also without a Treasurer, at the of the City ofLeeds BritishLeague 3. WMoulding to the county. He waS one of the end of the season!! club who will be in overall charge, 4. TLloyd best juniors to come out of the All this expense, on top of withCoachingSecretaryRay Burch 5. E Roofe county and reached No. 2 in the the County just having purchased lookingaftertheJuniorsand County 6. C Bridges England under 14 rankings. Mike, county shirts for Senior 1 and 2 Championships Secretary Albert 7. D Russell now 18, became the county's teams, at almost £100 as well. Dawson the Veterans. 8. I Neate youngestunder 17 championwhen What annoys me personally is that Rod will also be responsible 9. G Freeman he won the title, aged 12. Worcestershire is a well organised, for the Yorkshire Clubs 10. T Waller Four years ago he left with well ron county, with caring Championship which will, for the

his family to live in Halifax. "Now officials, and if we are going to first time, include a Veteran event. Senior Women we are back and I want to play for struggle financially, what about This competition normally gets 1. C Hunter the county again" he said. He is some of the not so well organised! under way towards the mid-point 2. B Lee now a professional table tennis caring counties. Maybe it's all part of the season and the closing date 3. TYouldon coach and player and should of a plan to who knows? for entries has long gone but if 4. A Hunt strengthen the Wiltshire team in Certainly, I don't understand. some unfortunate club has failed 5. Margaret Potter the County Championships. On a somewhat lighter note, to enter, it just may be possible to 6. JMills A special general meeting of John Turner and Roger Stevens squeeze them in - no promises. 7. K Sampson the Swindon and District League have both accepted positions as Ring Rod on 0484 519967 ­8. D Cleary was held to discuss a proposed County Junior Selectors, joining preferably yesterday!! 9. Melissa Potter change of roles. Traditionally the John Smith in this respect. At the time of writing, 10. A Jeary doubles have been held at the end Local British League team the only competition that is really

of league matches but many Thorns (Dudley) TIC have had a underway is the British League, Junior Boys doublesare concededwithoutbeing mixed start to their Division 3 withallourfourtearnshavingplayed 1. S Fry played. It was proposed that the Midland campaign, winning 1 and three matches, and best chance of 2. A Collar doubles would be played as game losing the other 2, of the opening honours coming to the County look 3. T O'Mahoney number four to prevent this. But fixtures. to be with the re-vamped Stephens 4. HNgo the move was defeated because it Team captain Ken Walton, (North Yorkshire/South Durham) 5. D Davies was felt that lack of time to along with Eric Hardman, Mark side, based just outside the County 6. SKillg complete matches in school halls Brookes, Sandra Roden, Ray boundary at Darlington, but with 7. GCooke rather than a lack of inclination Dixon,JulianWoottonandMalcolm no less than 13 of its 15 players 8. M Thompson was the main reason for doubles Langford, make up the squad, who registered in Yorkshire.

not being played. fly the flag for Dudley and Led by Bradford's Mick Junior Girls Worcestershire in the competition. Stead, whohasmoved from City of 1. TYouldon Leeds and York based former 2. K Sampson Scottish International Anwar 3. M Potter Majid, Stephens have returnedWORCESTERsmRE 4. DKing three wins in their three outings YORKSmREKen Walton 5. Y Dowd and are likely to be challengingRea Balmford 6. E Stephens Yugo Cars IT - who field exiled

NEWS FROM WITHIN the7. HCooke Yorkshireman Lee Hewitt - for the Countyregarding SeniorandJunior 8. G Hogan Championship come next April.Closed tournament dates. I MUST OPEN these notes with a Stead lined up against his November 17th sees the Junior belated word of thanks to AlanTips from the top were served up fonnerclub inthe openingmatchof event being held once again at Battye who, at the end of lastat a table tennis coaching school in the campaignandwas immediatelyChristopher Whitehead School, season, resigned his office ofSwindon for leading players in the involved in a titanic battle with whilst January 26th will be the County Competition Secretary to South West region. Bradford colleague Dave Indriks Senior's day at Thorns in Dudley. devote his full attention tohis workThe two-day course was held which saw him 15-20 down in the

After last season's for the Sheffield Association. at the Herod Parkway School and deciderbeforefighting backto save problems regarding the paying of Alan spent two years in officethe youngsters were put through six successive match points and fees, to enter Alex Westwood's and one of the innovationstheirpacesby ETIA coachesClaire run out 22-20 winner. County league, lets hope that the introduce<tthat time was theplaying Hunter, of Swindon,Michael 7-1 was the result in favour £3 per town team fee will not prove ofSeniorPremier, Juniorand Cadet Auchterlonie (Salisbury) and of the visiting North Yorkshire extortionate this time around. On Divisions on a multi-match basis Adrian Moore of Bexhill, Sussex. outfit, and they went on to record the subject of extortionate at a central venue over two or three"The youngsters are given wins over Burslem (5-3) and amounts of money, I have to Sundays.physical training and table skills" Sunderland (10-0), results which sympathise with County Treasurer Despite some teethingexplained Val Clack of Swindon, must mean that Stead, Majid,Vera Royal when she hears of troubles, the new pattern wasChairman of the South West Benny Robertson and Malcolm £200-£250 being needed to see the basically a success, enabling those Region CoachingCommittee. "We Corking already have Division 1 in County firsts through their players who were regulars on theteach them how to train for their sights. weekend at Bath Leisure Centre!! toumamentcircuit,andthusheavilyexcellence". "The main object is City of Leeds, with a new

Whoever dreamt up the idea committedat weekends, to becometo get them into the England look,home grownsquadofIndriks, of these weekends, obviously involved, and the pattem is likely ranking lists." The day before the Craig Render, Andy White and doesn'tworkinabankandprobably to be continued during the present South West course, there was a Helen Shields, all West Riding

players, have also lost to the other Cadet Girls The table tennis world in Hull was saddened by the sudden passing 'big boys' Yugo Cars, by the same 1. Smith ofGlenn Miller just prior to the opening of the season at the early age 7-1 score but got off the mark at 2. Silbum of43.

After recovering from an illness which had sidelined him for part Burslem where Indriks beat both 3. Fisher of last season, Glenn was looking forward to again representing Hull

Mark Evans and Brian Johns. 4. S Jenkins YPI, the club he had served since the age of 14, in the Premier Division Mixed fortunes for 5. Joanne Lewis (Wakefield) of the Local League.

Bribar Humberside, formerly 6. Lindsey D'Arcy (Wakefield) He had also worn the city's colours in Yorkshire League Humberside Andro, who have lost 7. Emma Booth (Huddersfield) matches at both Men's and Veteran's level and was a regular member

of sides playing in the Humberside League. Hewitt from last year's squad, 8. Kate Foster (Leeds) But, above all, Glenn will be remembered as a true gentleman

with a draw at Sunderland, a 5-3 9. Paul Broadhead (Wakefield) and sportsman, and the sympathies of all his many friends will be with 10. Charlotte Spink (Leeds) victory over Leicester and 2-6 Gwen, Margaret, Ben and Louise in their loss. defeat by Yugo Cars, while Stephens II in Division 3 North have recorded wins at Lincoln (6­2) and Kinghurst (5-3) and a home defeat at the hands of Vymura 3­5. ETTA

The county Junior Trials attracted a big entry from the 20 plus leagues and, following ahectic "TABLE SCHEME" weekend's play conducted by Richard Hudson at the Farnley ParkCentre in Leeds, the following lists were issued: Brand new Table Tennis tables for £260 Junior Boys 1. Darren Lindley

(Huddersfield) Table Details: 2. Robert Sharp (Northallerton) 3. Richard Smith (Huddersfield) 4. Andrew Nicholls (Selby) Cost includes VAT and Delivery 5. Jeremy Hazlehurst

(Harrogate) Well known models 6. Mark Smith (Bradford) 7. Michael James (Bridlington) Standard (with wheels) or Rollaway 8. Philip Neal (Hull)

22-24mm Tops 9. Paul Smith (Ripon) 10. Richard Potter (Leeds) Competition models suitable for all levels of play .Junior Girls Easy terms available 1. Sally Marling (Hull) 2. Katie Goodall (Leeds) Contact ETTA for terms and conditions 3. Caroline Bentley (Bradford) 4. Nicola Smith (Leeds) including illustrations 5. Nicola Silburn (Leeds) 6. Emma Roberts (Leeds) 7. Zoe Fisher (Hull) 8. Lyndsey Jenkins (Wakefield) 9. Sian Jenkins (Wakefield) ENGLISH TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION 10. Rachael Grindrod Queensbury House

(Wakefield) Havelock Road

Cadet Boys 1. M James Hastings 2. Simon James (Bridlington) East Sussex TN34 1HF 3. Andrew Sugarman (Hull) 4. David Smith (Huddersfield) Telephone: 0424 722525 5. Wayne Marsh (Hull) 6. Tony Hudson (Leeds) 7. Darren Ashall (Normanton) 8. Darren Wright (Bradford) 9. Mark Brook (Huddersfield) 10. Jonathan Wilby

(Huddersfield)

p--------------------------------------.THE ENGLISH OPEN

TABLE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

THURSDAY 9th TO SUNDAY 12th JANUARY 1992 NATIONAL INDOOR ARENA, BIRMINGHAM.

Players Entry Fee includes free admission for all four days including finals

Entry forms now available from: ETTA 0424 722525

Ring Now!

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Continued flOm Page 18

Normal Cases (i.e. a match between two rated players)

Events with a Weighting of 0.5 to 1.0 For these events. the winner and loser exchange an equal number of points. e.g. Player A Rating

Player B Rating 2800 ~

Rating difference 120

Case 1 (Player A Wins - Expected Win) WEIGHT - 1.0 Referring to the points exchange table. Player A would gain 5 points while Player B would lose 5 points. Case 2 (Player B Wins - Unexpected Win) WEIGHT = 1.0 Referring to the points exchange table, Player B would gain 14 points while Player A would lose 14 points. Case 3 (Player A Wins - Expected Win) WEIGHT = 0.5 Referring to the points exchange table, Player A would gain 3 points while Player B would lose 3 points. Case 4 (player B Wins - Unexpected Win) WEIGHT = 0.5 Referring to the points exchange table, Player B would gain 7 points while Player A would lose 7 points.

Events with a Weighting of 1.5 - 3.0

For these events, the winner and loser exchange an unequal number of points: e.g. Player A 2800

Player B 2680

Rating Difference 120

Case 1 (Player A wins - Expected Win) WEIGHT - 2.25 Referring to the points exchange table, Player A would gain 11 points while Player B would lose 5 points.

Case 2 (Player B Wins - Unexpected Win) WEIGHT - 2.25) Referring to the points exchange table, Player B would gain 32 points while Player A would lose 14 points

List of Event Weightings

Weighting of x 3 Olympic Games World Championships European Championships European Youth Championships

Weighting of x 2.5 Olympic Qualification Euro-Asia Tournament European League European Nations Cup European Masters Swedish Open English Open Hungarian Open World Team Cup European Stiga Top 12 European Top 12 (Junior)

Weighting of x 2.25 English Senior National Champion­ships English Junior National Champion­ships Polish Open

Findlandia Open USSR Open Rumanian Open Swiss Open French JUnior Open ponuguese Junior Open

Weighting of x 2 5 Star Opens VETTS National Masters

Weighting of x 1.5 Friendly Intemational Matches 3 Star Opens Junior 2 Star Select Opens JUnior Top 12 County Championships..Premier British League...Premier VETI'S Regional Tournaments Final National Junior Ranking Trials

Weighting of x 1 County Championships (except Premier) British League (except Premier) 2 Star Opens

Weighting of x 0.5 1 Star Opens Regional Junior Ranking Trials

Where there is a Team Event in any of the above, the Team Weighting will be 0.5 below the individual weighting.

Bonus points are automatically built in for the winner based on the imponance of the event.

Periods The playing season is divided into a number of 'periods'. All included results held between the start and end dates set for a period are processed at the same time. Therefore, a player'S points change only once in each period. All a player's match poiI,\ exchanges are based on the starting points at the beginning of the period. The player'S points at the end of the period are equal to the staning points for that period, plus or minus the sum of all hislher match point exchanges, e.g. Stan Rating 2100, Points gained 34 lost 22. New Rating 2112. Players who are inactive for more than 4 consecutive periods incur a penalty of 25 points per period, starting with the 5th period of inactivity. After 11 periods of inactivity a player will be deleted from the Rating Scheme.

Periods (Le. publication dates of all lists) for Season 1991/92 are proposed as follows:­

1. November 1st, 2. December 20th, 3. February 7th, 4. April 1st, 5. May 29th. 6. August 14th

Publication dates have been calculated where possible to provide up to date ranking lists for seeding purposes for the major National Championships.

INITIAL RATINGS Staning Rating

Each player'S starting Rating for period 1 was determined taking into consideration the ITTF World Ranking Lists, the ETTA end of 90/ 91 season Ranking Lists and in some cases. a subjective assessment of a player's level by members of the Ranking Committee: Stuan Sherlock, Geoff Twiss, Don Parker. Tim Gautreau, Diccon Gray.

Players become rated when they have obtained a minimum of 2 USABLE wins and 2 USABLE losses.

A match is deemed USABLE by the computer when:

1. It is against a player with an established rating 2. The opponent is within a range of plus or minus 200 points of the player's level, which is based on the current set of matches for that player,

E.g. Player A has 4 match results in a period as follows: Wins over player B (1850) and player C (1900), AND with losses to player D (2100) and player e (2750). The match with player E is not usable for initial rating purposes because it is more than 200 points above player A's indicated level (near 2000) based on the other 3 match results.

Re-Calculated Initial Ratings

In subsequent periods for player A above. hislher rating will be re­calculated based on hislher new results in the next period combined with all previous results.

This procedure will take place until Player A has a minimum of 5 USABLE wins and 5 USABLE losses.

A player can therefore obtain an initial rating quickly (Le. 2 + 2 USABLE) and subsequently obtain a more accurate re-calculated Rating based on more data (Le. 5 + 5 USABLE)

Re-Ratings

Players who show rapid improve­ment (Le. gain at least 130 points, at a weight of 1.0. in one period). qualify for the initial Rating procedure as described previously (see Initial Ratings section).

These players are treated exactly the same as new players because a change in level (Le. Ranking) is evident based on theiI current results.

In the above Initial Rating proce­dures. the highest initial rating a player will be awarded by the computer is limited to the player'S best win minus 7. This is to ensure players are not initially over-rated.

Ranking Lists

The scheme is not based on quantity of matches played (Le. the more you play the higher you will be ranked) but the quality (Le. level/rating of opposition) of matches played.

Therefore a player can be more selective with hislher competitive programme which has always been seen by England Team Manager Don Parker as essential to a player'S balanced development.

All ranking lists will be printed at the end of each period. Lists published will initially be Veteran. Senior, U21, Junior. Cadet, (male and female).

Results of males against females will not count for any ranking purposes.

The integration of results means that all of a player's results (iIrespec­tive of age category) contribute towards one rating for that player.

HALE%.Results Checking I'NOIAN"

After events have been inputted at Hastings, all results, where possible. will be subject to independent checking in order to reduce the number of errors.

List Markers

On each published list. the following list markers may appear: NA - Newly active (a player who has played in the current period but did not play in the previous 5 periods) • - Not played in current period... ­Not played in previous 2 consecutive periods. ••• - Not played in previous 3 consecutive periods. .... - Not played in previous 4 consecutive periods. N - A player's fiIst Initial Rating. I - A player who has gained or lost at least 130 points in current period.

J.D. Numbers.

Results are inputted into the computer using a unique individual J.D. number which is allocated when the player is entered into the computer database. This will not change unless a player is deleted from the scheme and re-enters.

For non-English players, Ratings will be determined according to the most current ITTF World Ranking banding chan below.

Bands ITTF Ranking Rating Men

A 1 - 10 3350 B 11 - 20 3250 C 21 - 30 3200 D 31 - 40 3150 E 41 - 50 3100 F 51 - 100 3050 G 101 - 200 3000 H 201 - 300 2900 J Over 300 2800

Bands ITTF Ranking Rating Women

A 1 - 10 3100 B 11 - 30 3000 C 31 - 50 2900 D 51 - 70 2800 E 71 - 100 2700 F 101 - 150 2500 G 151 - 200 2300 H 201 - 250 2100

For players not World Ranked. the Ranking Committee, led by Don Parker, will determine this player's Staning Rating according to hislher level relative to English players.

Non-English players will be rated but will not appear on English Ranking lists.

Audit Trails

A full breakdown of an individuals' results (Le. audit trail) is available from the ETTA at a cost of £5. Please send large SAE to Doreen Nightin­gale at ETTA. Queensbury House, Havelock Road, Hastings, E. Sussex TN 341HF.

Future Enhancements

If ETTA members have suggestions to enhance the scheme. or wish for certain aspects to be discussed, the committee will be pleased to consider submissions in writing received at the Hastings Office.

PAGE 19

Middlesex are on top SENIOR PREMIER St. Neots Table Tennis Club is the home of the Senior Premier Division this season and the first series of matches was played 28/29 September.

It did not prove to be a happy hunting ground for Lancashire, the current champions, as they dropped 3 points. This was despite very good efforts from Sean Gibson and Andrew Eden, who each lost only 1 singles. But Lancs had only one lady player and started the programme 'two strikes down" It was Middlesex, the most consistently successful County Champs team, who came out on top, dropping only 3 events over the 3 matches. And congratulations to Devon, on promotion, who did very well to win their 3 matches and finish just 1 event down on Middlesex.

The Yorkshire team was without their male stars. It seems team selections could have been affected as the weekend coincided with the European Masters event. However, Yorkshire dropped only 1 point due to the excellence of their young ladies, Sally Marling and Kate Goodall, who won all their matches. Surrey, led by Nicky Mason, had 2 drawn matches - against Lancs and Yorks! Against Lancs Surrey sere 3-5 down. Mike Hammond won the final event against Tony Middlesex Taylor to secure the draw. Sussex got a compre­hensive Win over Bedfordshire but then had hard matches losing to both Middlesex and Yorkshire. Bedford's found it difficult after having been promoted from Division 2 in 2 seasons. Peter Bowler did well to get 2 good wins against Yorkshire. Berkshire were Without the services of Mathew Syed. The team did not recover from a 10-0 defeat by Middlesex and lost also to Lancs and Devon. Against Devon the Berkshire team lost 2 events at deuce in the 3rd game. However they will not have such a difficult programme in the finals series.

The most hard fought event must have been the clash between Graham Sandley (Mil and Adrian Moore (Sx). Adrian won -19,18,21 to get the one event for Sussex.

There were some very good indiVidual performances over the weekend. Of the men none did better than Colin Wilson (Mi No 3), who won all his matches! There were a number who suffered only 1 defeat. One of these was England NO.1 Junior Alex Perry (Dvl, who lost only to Andrew Eden (La) at 17 in the 3rd game. Sally Marling and Kate Goodall were, of course, undefeated as were the 3 Middlesex ladies ­Lesley Keast, Angela Smith and Sara Williams ­who each played in 2 matches.

Senior 1B:RESULTS AV 9, Wi 1, Bu 6, Mi2 4, Wo 4, Sx2 6, DV2 4, E 6,La 3 Dv 7 Ilk 4 La 6 Sx2, 3 Bu 7, E 9, Wo 1, Wi 4, DV2 6, Middx 3,Mi 10 Bk 0 Dv 10 Bd 0 Av7, DV2 4, Av 6, Bu 1, E 9, Mi2 4, SX2 6, Wo 6,Y 5 Sy 5 La 5 Sy 5 Wi 4, DV2 5, Mi2 5, Av 9, Wo 1, E 7, SX2 3, Wi 3 Bd 2 Sx 8 Mi 9 Sx 2 Bu 7Sy 2 Mi 8 Y 8 Bd 2

Sx 4 Y 6 Dv 9 Bk 1 The teams met at Bath Leisure Centre over

weekend 28/29 Sept, and got off to a good start LEAGUE TABLE each playing 4 matches Essex and Avon won all P W D L F A Pta their matches. Essex starte>! against Devon 2 and Mi 3 3 0 0 27 3 6 just got home at 6-4 when, in the final event, Des

Dv 3 3 0 0 26 4 6 Charlery beat Gary Lambert at 22 in the 3rd game! Y 3 2 1 0 19 11 5 Devon 2 also gave Avon a hard fight before going La 3 1 1 14 16 3 down 4-6. Bucks, a promoted team, did very well Sx 3 1 0 2 13 17 2 to get 3 wins - losing only to Essex. They fought Sy 3 0 2 1 12 18 2 well to beat Sussex 2 by a 7-3 margin. Steve Bk 3 0 0 3 5 25 0 Cowley (Bu) beat Peter Bartram (Sx) at 26 in the

Bd 3 0 0 3 4 26 0 deciding game!

PAGE 20

Linda Radford (E) and Marsha Majmudar (Avl played very well over the weekend to win their 8 matches. Paul LeWis and Andy Creed also served Avon well each suffering only 1 defeat. Philip Bradbury also gave a similar performance for Bucks. The series was obviously successful for hosts Avon, who finished as a mid-Table team last season. Avon and Essex meet in the last Round of the final series in February.

Senior 2A: Lancs 2. 10 - Lincs 0, Cumbria 6 Warvvicks 2, 4. - Lancs 2 had a very strong team With Graham Clarke and Nigel Eckersley (No.2) and Lincs suffered a maximum defeat. Cumbria got off to a good start with a win against Warwicks 2. Julie McLean won both her matches and, at a vital stage, Kevin Hodgson got a win at 22 in the 3rd game.

Senior 2C: Cambs 2. 5 - Norfolk 5, Beds 2 2 ­Herts 1 8 - With the score 2-5 against Cambs 2, Norfolk staged a great fight back. First Jon Cockburn (Nk) beat Geoff Davies (Ca) at 25 in the 3rd game and then Ruth Acourt and Chris Brewer followed up with wins to gain a draw. Herts must be favourites in this Division followed up with Wins to gain a draw. Herts must be favourites in this Division and started with an 8-2 Win - only 1 event going to 3 games.

Senior 2D: Berks 2 3 - Hants 7, Sussex 3 9 - Oxon 1 - Hants, who just missed promotion, got off to a good start with a win over Berks 2. Gemma Schwartz (Bk), a junior last season, played well to beat sarah Turner (Ha) at 18 in the 3rd game. Sussex 3, on promotion, inflicted a heavy defeat on Oxon. The only Oxon win came in the first event - Gavin Yates beat tony Murrell at 24 in the 3rd gamel

Senior 3A: Herts 3 5 - Staffs 2 5, Notts 8 - Hunts 2. Newcomers Staffs 2 came back from 3-5 to get a draw at Barnet. Duncan Taylor. a Herts junior player last season, had 2 good wins - including one over Adrian Thorp. Notts had a convincing win over Hunts, with only 1 event going to 3 games.

Junior lA: Durham 4 - Clwyd 6, Derbys 7 ­N'berland 3, Yorks 2 9 - Suffolk 1, Northants 3 ­Staffs 7. Durham. down from Premier Division, suffered a setback when losing to Clwyd. Paul Robertson (Cw No.1) did well to Win his 2 matches. Derbys got a good win over N'berland, for whom Barry Forster had 2 Wins. Suffolk had a tough start Visiting Yorks and losing 1-9. Emma Corbett got the 1 win for Suffolk. Northants/Staffs was a clash of 2 promoted teams. Staffs came out on top with their boys - Matthew Brown. Paul Tomlinson and Richard Tilley - Winning their 6 events.

Junior lB: Glos 5 - Kent 5. Oxon 0 Surrey 2 10, Glam 2 Herts 8. Kent, also down from Premier Division, could only manage a draw at Glos. Glos 3till have the services of Raymond Powell and Jeremy Hyatt, successful championship players of a few seasons, and they won their 4 events. Oxon team did not have any girls and Surrey 2 got a maximum win. Herts did very well on their visit to Barry to come away with an 8-2 win over Glam.

Junior 2A: Lancs 2 7 - Derbys 2 3, Ches 2 2 ­Notts 8, Leics 0 - Ches 10, Staffs 2 6 - Warwicks 2 4. Lanes 2. on demotion, did well to get a 7-3 win over Derbys 2. 2 Lancs wins came at 22 and 19 in 3rd games. Ches 2. a player short for a home match. paid the penalty with Notts getting a 7-3 win. Sarah Smith (Dy) had 2 good wins. Ches 1 team made no mistakes with a max win over Leics. The clash of Midlanders, Staffs 2 and Warwicks 2, resulted in Staffs going away to a 3-0 lead and achieveing a 6-4 win. Anthony Smith and Julie Bickerton (St) won their 4 events.

Junior 2B: Herts 2 5 - Suffolk 2 5. Lincs 3 - Essex 3 7, Cambs 2 2 - Norfolk 2 8. Suffolk 2 fought back from 3-5 down to get a draw against Herts 2. Sarah and Craig Dawson were the successful players. Lincs, down from Division 1, met the current champions Essex 3, who started well with a 7-3 win. Peter Worthington and Karl Grant (E) got 4 wins. Norfolk 2 did well to get an 8-2 win on their visit to Soham. Shelley Leak got the 2 wins for Cambs. Norfolk 1 went one better with a 9-1 win over Beds - just 1 event went to a decider.

Junior 2D: Sussex 2 4 . Bucks 6, Surrey 3 2 ­Sussex 1 8. Middx 2 5 - Hants 1 5, Middx 2 8 ­Hants 2 2. The Bucks boys - Neil Bigrave, Ian Musk and Cuong Lieu - won their 6 events in the

defeat of Sussex 2. Sussex 1 on their visit to Surrey went into a 3-0 lead and won 8-2. The Hants team visited Ashford and the 1st team got a draw against Middx 2 when. in the last event. Jeremy Wilson (Ha) beat Simeon Zeffert 19. -19, 23! Hants 2 started reasonably well but Middx took over to win the last 5 events for an 8-2 win.

VETERAN PREMIER The teams met at Hyde and 12 matches were played. Yorks and Ches again came out on top with 3 wins. Yorks had a hard fight against Essex and were in fact 2-4 down. Malcolrn Corking, Dennis Neale and Derek Munt won the final 3 events. Essex won their other 2 matches to be in 3rd place at this stage. Leics did well on their first experience of Premier Div to get a 7-2 win over Kent. They only lost to Sussex when, in the final event. Keith Horton (K) beat Tony Kinsey at 22 in the 3rd game.

Derek Schofield, making a return to the Ches Premier Div side. played well to win his 6 singles as did Roger Hampson (Ch). Dennis Neale (Y) won his singles events and the doubles with Malcolrn Corking. Lesley Radford (E) got 100% wins in singles and mixed doubles. In the Yorks match, partnered by Stuart Gibbs, the win over Derek MuntiPat Bassano was with the scores 15 and 31!

.Doreen Schofield (Y) won her singles matches, including a 20 and 12 Win over Beryl Voss (Li) who was unbeaten last season. The CheslYorks match in the final series could again decide the championship - but Ches also have to meet Essex.

Hert[ordshire's Duncan Taylor

RESULTS E 5 Sy 4 Sy 1 Y 8 K 3 Sy 6 K 2 Le 7 Li 6 K 3 Ch 8 Li 1 Y 6 Li 3 E 7 Sx 2 Sx 5 Le 4 Ch 8 Sx 1 Le 2 Ch 7 Y 5 E 4

LEAGUE TABLE P w L F A Pts

Ch 3 3 0 23 4 6 Y 3 3 0 19 8 6 E 3 2 1 16 11 4 Le 3 1 2 13 14 2 Sy 3 1 2 11 16 2 Li 3 1 2 10 17 2 Sx 3 1 2 8 19 2 K 3 0 3 8 19 0

Vets lA: Oxon 3 - Lancs 6, Yorks 2 7 - Glos 2, Norfolk 6 Ches 2 3. Oxon held Lancs to 3-3 but Brian Clements. Phil Blake and Tony Rigby won the last 3 events for the Lancs Win. Glos, on promotion, met stron::J opposition at York. Frank Jones (Gs) did well to beat Keith Powell at 18 in 3rd and Judy Morley (Gsl, a newcomer to Vets scene, beat Carol Judson by a similar margin. Ches 2 started their Div 1 experience at Norwich. They put up a good fight and wone one event at 23 in 3rd game and lost another at deuce - Les Rayment (Nk) was involved in both matches. Mick Broughton (Nk) had 3 wins to assist the 6-3 win.

Vets lB: Surrey 2 4 - Dorset 5, Berks 5 Kent 2 4. Sussex 2 1 - Essex 2 8, Wilts 5 - Middx 4. Three 5­4 results in the first Round in this Division ­typical of competition in the Vets Section. Berks did very well to topple the current champions ­Kent 2. K. Clarke and J. White won the 4 events for Kent. Sussex 2, on promotion. had a tough initiation when meeting Essex 2. Although 8-1 for Essex there were a number of close games. Wilts, down from Premier Div, got off to a good start with a 5-4 win over Middx. John Holland (Mi) did well to beat both Bill Moulding and Terry Bruce.

Vets 2A: Staffs 2 - Lancs 2 7, Notts 6 - N'berland 3. Martin Pickles won his 2 events for Staffs against Lancs 2. inclUding a very good 2 straight defeat of Norman Thewlis - but that was all his team could muster. N'berland. down from Div 1 and without the services of Fred Short. got only 3 Wins against Notts - 2 of these came from Pauline Long, who partnered Maurice Cheek in the mixed doubles.

Vets 2B: Hunts 3 - Beds 6. Brian Mayfield and David Randall were in good form to win their 4 events for Beds. In the last event Alan Kirsop (Hu) beat Jim Wooliscroft 20, -19, 19!

Vets 2C: Middx. 2 6 - Oxon 2 3, Kent 3 4 - Surrey 3 5, Essex 3 8 - Sussex 3 1. Newcomers Oxon 2 had a tough start against Middx 2. Oxon led 3-2 but then Middx "cleaned up" to win 6-3. Kent 3, on promotion, did well against Surrey 3, but with the match score 4-4 Ron Langheim had a decisive win to give Surrey 2 points. Sussex 3 also had a hard match on promotion and succumbed 8-1 to Essex 3.

Vest 2D: Avon 6 - Wtlts 3, Glos 2 3 - Berks 2 6, Hants 3 Somerset 6. Newcomers Avon did well with a good 6-3 win over Wilts 2. The doubles events were close with Wilts getting the mixed at 22 in 3rd and Avon struck back to win the mens at 23 in 3rd. Glos/Berks ~as a hard fought match. 7 events went to a 3rd game and 4 of these decided at 19 or 20 in the deciders - the results being shared equally! Hants, on demotion, went down 3-6 to Somerset for whom Brian Reeves had 2 good wins.

Vets 3A: Hunts 2 0 - Cambs 9. Warwick 2 6 ­Herts 2 3. Cambs are also newcomers to make a flying start with a max win in straight games over Hunts 2. Herts 2, on demotion, had to meet

Warwicks 2 - last season's champions. Being without a lady Herts had to forfeith 2 events and lost 3-6. Derek Balding (He) did very well to win his 2 singles events.

Vets 3B: Herts 3 8 - Beds 2 1. Wilts 41 - Berks 4 8. Essex 4 7 - Sussex 4 2. Herts 3 beat Beds 2 by an 8-1 margin but it was a hard fought match with 3 Herts wins at 19 and 20 in the 3rd games. Berks 4 well on top against Wilts 4 with 8 two straight Wins. But Ray Cordery (Wi) "bucked the trend" with a 16 in 3rd win over Brian Halliday. Newcomers Essex 4 made a good start against Sussex 4 - they took a 3-0 lead and went on to win 7-2.

Vets 3C: Herefords 4 - Herts 5 5, Somerset 2 1 ­Hants 2 8, Wilts 3 6 - Dorset 3 3. Herefords went 0-3 down but fought back well to level at 4-4. It was a close match to decide the issue when Derek Caulder beat Jim Ahern 19 and 21 for the Herts win. Hants 2 got a good 8-1 win at Yeovil. In the mens doubles Ken Burton/Ray Lush (Ha) beat Alan MaidmentNemon Adams 20 and 24. Newcomers Dorset 3 led 3-2 at SWindon but Wilts 3 came back with Succp.ssive wins at 19, 17, 17 and 1b in 3rd name, ~~r the win.

PAGE 21

France slam Sweden SHOCK result from Group B in the Super Division of the Joola European Men's League was afforded me by fax from Nicky Bergstrom, the Gen. Sec. of the Swedish TTA, and his communica­tion, brief though it is, forms the headline. '

The match was played in Stockholm on September 17 and France, without the services of Jean-Philippe Gatien, let loose the young tigers in the persons of Patrick Chila, Nicolas Chatelain and Damien Eloi to claw their way to victory over Jorgen Persson, Mikael Appelgren and Erik Lindh. Scores:- J. Persson 1 D. Eloi -15, 13, -14; E. Lindh 1 P. Chila 15, -9, -26; M. Appelgren 1 N. Chatelain - Sweden's Erik Lindh 22, -15; Persson/Lindh 1 ChilalEloi -12,19, -18.

Dziubanski 13, 14; Wosik b Continued hostilities in Blaszczyk 14, 25.

Yugoslavia has put on hold the other Group B match Belgium at home to the involving the host nation at Netherlands in Anderlecht home to Hungary. on September 25th had a

Meantime, in Group A, comfortable 4-1 win their the defending champions, only loss being inflicted by Germany, 1-3 down, were Danny Heister who beat hard pressed to dispose of Philippe Saive. Poland 4-3 with victory Scores: J-M Saive b T. corning in the final set when Keen 17, -8, 13; T. Cabrera b Torben Wosik just made it P. Halden 21, 10; P. Saive 1 against Lucjan Blaszczyk 14 D. Heister -16,19, -18; J-M and 25! Saive/Cabrera b Keen/C. Mol Scores: J. Rosskopf 1 L. -18,14,20; J-M Siave b Blaszczyk 17, -14, -18; P. Haldan 20, 18. Franz 1 P. Skierski -17, -11;

DIVISION 1 T. Wosik b M. Dziubanski ­18, 9, 15; Rosskopf/S. England's match at home to Fetzner 1 Blaszczyk/Skierski Italy at Bletchley on Septem­-16,16, -17; Rosskopf b ber 18 was covered in the

October issue of this maga-Skierski 16, 13; Franz b

t OBITUARY Dr. Karl Smekal, the Hon. President of the Austrian Table Tennis Association, died on September 24th, 1991 , following a heart attack at the age of 76. Dr. Smekal served on the Management Committee of the ETIU from 1978 to 1982 and was President of the Austrian Association for more than 17 years. As a politician he was decorated with all important orders of the Austrian government and especially received the title "Hofrat", which is the highest possible award in Austria.

zine, the 4-0 result in Group B denying the spectators a full quota for their money. But that is the new rule, as agreed at the Informal General Meeting in Chiba ­the match concludes when one team has won 4 sets. Austria, England's chief rivals in this group, shed two sets in their home match against Spain winning 4-2 at St. Veit on September 21. Scores: Ding Yi b I. Caymel 14, 8; Quain Quianli b R. Casares 17, 12; W. Schlager 1 J, Pales -18,16, -13; Schlager/K. Jindrak 1 Pales/ Casares -19,12, -15; Quian Quianli b Casares 21, -16, 21; Quian Quianli b Pales 15, 11.

Czechoslovakia, last season's demotees from the Super Division, began their Group A Division 1 pro­gramme with a 4-0 home win against Turkey in Kosice on September 18. Scores: P. Korbel b O. Cimen 15, 14; T. Janci b G. Yaldiz 16, 12; R. VirnilP. Javorek b Cimen/ Yaldiz 13, 19; Virni b I. Eren 18, 11.

Bulgaria were at home to Denmark in Sofia on Septem­ber 29 but with the scores tied at 3-all Denmark got home 4-3 when Allan Bentsen beat Ivan Ajanski in

the match decider. Scores: M. Bratanov b A. Bentsen 17, 13; K. Lengerov 1 L. Hauth -9, 13; I. Ajanski b M. Sonnichsen 19, 18; Bratanov/Serafirnov 1 Bentsen/Sonnichsen -12, 13, -17; Bratanov b Hauth 17, ­'14, 18; Lengerov 1 Sonnichsen -12,22, -20; Ajanski 1 Bentsen -21, -10.

Subsequently Bulgaria travelled to Sakarya where they were seen off 4-1 by Turkey on October 2. Scores: Yaldiz b Ajanski 7, 13; Eren bt Bratanov 20, 19; Cimen 1 Lengerov -17, -19; Yaldiz/Cimen b Bratanov/ Lengerov 19, 16; Yaldiz b Bratanov 15, 18.

OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENTS

The Singles qualifying tournament is to be played in the Palasport, via Resia, Bolzano, Italy over a 4-day period February 6/9 1992. The doubles tournament will be over two days in Wroclaw, Poland on Febru­ary 22/23, 1992.

18th EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSlflPS

April 10/20, 92. Hanns­Martin-Schleyer-Hall Stutt­gart.

The BGM of the ETTU will take place on Thursday April 16/92.

PAGE 22

EUROPEAN WOMEN'S LEAGUE 1991/92 - CIRCULAR 1 SUPER DIVISION

GROUPA . (First Stage, Round 1) HUNGARY BELGIUM 4:0 BATORFI Csilla BILLEN Elke 21:15 21:10 1:0 TOTH Krisztina BOGAERTS Karien 21: 7 17:21 21:18 2:0 WIRTH Veronika BILLEN Els 19:21 21:14 21:19 3:0 TOTHIELLO BILLENIBILLEN 21:16 21:13 4:0

FRANCE ENGLAND 1:4 COUBAT Emmanuelle HOLT Andrea 16:21 21:13 21:19 1:0 DERRIEN Sandrine LOMAS Lisa 11:21 12:21 1:1 YOUEL Rozenn ELLIOT Fiona 21:18 16:21 14:21 1:2 COUBATNOUEL HOLTILOMAS 24:22 17:21 10:21 1:3 COUBAT Emmanuelle LOMAS Lisa 20:22 13:21 1:4

USSR SWEDEN 4:1 TIMINA Elena SVENSSON Asa 21:19 8:21 22:20 1:0 MELNIK GaIina SVENSSON Marie 12:21 17:21 1:1 PAUNA Irina PETERSSON Pernilla 19:21 21:10 28:26 2:1 TIMINAIPALINA SVENSSON/SVENSSON 21: 8 21:16 3:1 TIMINA Elena SVENSSON Marie 21:17 17:21 21: 8 4:1

GROUPB (First Stage, Round 1) CZECHOSLOVAKIA ITALY 4:0 KASALOVA Renata NEGRISOLI Laura 21:13 21:19 1:0 MIHOCKOVA Jaroslava ARISI AIessia 21:19 21: 8 2:0 DOBESOVA Jana SEMENZA Christina 20:22 21:15 21:12 3:0 KASALOVAlMIHOCKOVA NEGRISOLIISEMENZA 21:17 21:12 4:0

ROMANIA GERMANY 4:1 BADESCU Otilia PRAEDEL Christiane 21: 6 21:14 1:0 CIOSU Emilia NEMES Olga 21:15 18:21 11:21 1:1 NASTASE Adriana SCHALL Elke 21: 9 21:13 2:1 CIOSUINASTASE PRAEDEUSCHALL 25:23 15:21 21:17 3:1 BADESCU OtiIia NEMES Olga 21:17 22:20 4:1

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PAGE 23

Recreation for the genteel TABLE TENNIS IN THE PARLOUR

IT is unlikely that we will ever know exactly how table tennis developed in its early days, "a period," according to Ivor Montagu, "in which history becomes tangled and confused by reminiscence, and reminiscence itself is dimmed either by senility or the hearsay of a new generation." But it is clear that until the very end of the nineteenth century table tennis was essentially a parlour game, invariably played on a large dining-room table. The game at this stage was exclusively a post-prandial recreation for the genteel. a domestic diversion. A highly authentic reconstruction of this scene was shown in the BBC Television series 'Eureka' in 1983. In the evening, after dinner, the table was cleared, a net improvised with two champagne bottles and a piece of string and the company then began to play. The gadrooned edge of some dining-tables could be a nuisance but, as Arnold Parker suggested, lets should be allowed.

We can feel. after allowing for some artistic licence, that the artists of the day caught the scene very well. Many illustrations were published, particu­larly in the mustrated London News, Punch, mustrated Sporting and Dra­matic News, Sphere and Graphic. Most commonly two players are seen in

rather stilted, unorthodox action and surrounded by quite a crowd of onlookers, other dinner guests socialis­ing while waiting their turn. Table

"Ping-Pong Fever", a scene from a reconstruction of 1890s ping-pong, Danmarks Radio, 1988

tennis followed lawn tennis in allowing even encouraging - the sexes to mix and even to compete together, up to about 1880 this would have been unthinkable in England. But informality did not go so far as to allow the gentlemen to remove their evening jackets, and the ladies must have been severely encumbered by their long dresses, allowing not even the glimpse of an ankle.

The immense popularity of these ping-pong parties soon led to a de­mand for printed invitation cards. These were often in the form of picture postcards with a ping-pong scene and a simulated handwritten message to be completed by the sender, for example:­"WE ARE HAVING PING-PONG ON ......... AT ......... O'CLOCK, DO JOIN US." Over fifty different cards were published in 1902, the most notable being those by Galyon (the earliest) and by Raphael Tuck, with fine col­oured illustrations drawn by Lance Thackeray and printed by chromolithography in Germany.

Sometimes, no doubt, guests ignorant of the game were cajoled

against their wishes into playing. Such is the scenario for 'That Dreadful Game or The Torture of Tomkins' published in Punch in April 1901. Punch is a humorous magazine well­known in England, and the article, though mildly satirical, gives quite a strong impression of the scene "About a fortnight ago I went to dine with the Robinsons. It was an excellent dinner, as all their dinners are, and not too long, which leaves time for music or cards 8.tterwards.-...

When we had finisheddinp.er at the. Robinson's that evening, the men were invited to go and smoke in another

room. I thought nothing of that. I imagined that the dining-room had to be cleared, so that early next morning it might be painted or whitewashed, or undergo some such decoration not unusual in spring. So I smoked peace­fully in the other room with th other fellows, and then we went into the drawing-room. No sooner had we entered the door than the young ladies of the family jumped up and cried joyfully, "Ping-Pong!"

"What's that?" 'said I. o' "Notknow Ping-Pong, Mr. "Tomkins?" they asked derisively.

"I'm not much good at games," I

A "write away" postcard, 1902. The message has to be completed by the sender. The Gurney Collection

------- -l

I

"A long shot from the corner", 1901, an early photograph of the domestic game The Royal Magazine

confessed humbly. "Of course I've heard it spoken of, but how do you play it?"

"Come and see," they replied: "It's as easy as possible. You'll learn directly. It's such a jolly game. We play ever evening."

I abandoned all hope of peaceful music.....The whole of that deplorable evening was devoted to that 'jolly game'. They stood me at one end of the dining-table, put a battledore, a beastly baby's battledore into my hand, and made me aim at a beastly little ball.....At first I couldn't hit the thing at all. Then I gave it tremendous whacks, and it flew up to the ceiling, or hit the pictures, or got mixed up with the electric light. But wherever it went it always finished on the floor, and I spent half the time crawling under the table, or hitting my head against the sideboard, or grovelling under the chairs, or lifting up the coal scuttle. However, several times I hit the silly ball in the right direction and the girls said I was getting on splendidly, when all I was anxious for was getting off . After that the party broke up, I have since understood that this was unu­sual, as many intelligent persons go on till breakfast time .

But table tennis was not only played 'upstairs'; it also extended 'downstairs' to the kitchen quarters, where - as again satirised by Punch - it was played by the servants. And it was also enjoyed at the very top of the house in the children's nursery. Clifton Bingham described the scene in a children's book illustrated by Louis Wain:­

The craze spread to the nursery soon, The children there, each afternoon, Discarding corals, bibs and rattles, Gave bottles up for Ping-Pong battles!

If table tennis had stayed in the house, it would, no doubt, have faded away for ever along with other contem­porary parlour games such as Dumb Crambo, Knight of the Whistle, Smudgeographs, Squails, Ringolette and Cockamaroo. But, of course, it moved out into the the world and had a quite astonishing, if shortlived, run of success.

Reproduced by kind permission of the publishers - The International Table Tennis Federation, 53 London Road, St. Leonards-on-the-Sea, East Sussex TN37 6AY. [rom whom this interesting book is available.

PAGE 25

Gold in Marseilles THE GREAT BRITAIN team won four Gold Medals in Marseilles, in July, in the European Maccabi Games.

Talya Greenberg won two gold medals, one with Perry Somers when they won the Mixed Doubles title, and the other when she paired up with Joanne Solley to win the Ladies Team event.

Simeon Zeffert and Simon Jablon won the other two gold medals when they won the Boys Team event and captured the Boys Doubles.

In fact this was a record breaking games for the Great Britain Team, winning a total of 19 medals.

Some two months prior to us departing with everything Virtually in place, our Maccabi Union Table Tennis President Alan Shepherd had to have a hip replacement operation so unfortunately could not join the squad.

Some three weeks before departing I was informed by Skylet Andrew who was to come as our coach that he could not come because he thought he was going to have a record released or something like that. This appeared to be a blow but we were then lucky enough to acquire the services of Mark Dare of HerfordshirelEssex, in my opinion a coach of great vision, and so it proved as Mark was superb in MdIseilles, gaining many friends and admirers for his tremendous input and knowledge of the game.

The French had laid on an extravagant opening ceremony which was held in Marseilles football stadium (where Chris Waddle plays) and it was great to be part of the 27 countries marching around the stadium with all the participants decked out in their national track suits. The culmination of the ceremony was parachutists landing into the stadium from small aircraft above all holding French and Isralie flags, a sight to see and this just after another moving sight when a French athlete lit the main torch to start the games.

The table tennis venue was a hall in the centre of Marseille which could have been well equipped to stage the event, hOjVever a major problem arose with one wall surface being all windows and the french referee (appointed by the french table tennis federation) not being able to understand English and refusing to do anything about it).

Further problems arose when all the managers of the participating countries had a meeting and voted separately and unarninously to change the mens team event from Corbilion cup rules (two a side) to Swathling cup rules (three a side). it was also agreed that countries could have two or three sides competing. Further it was voted that the Womens team event and the junior boys and girls events could be Corbilion cup.

MENS TEAM EVENT GREAT BRITAIN had two teams in this event, GBl comprising Perry Somers, Melvyn Waldman and Joel Roodyn. GB2 comprising Morris Greenberg, Dov Katz and Paul Jablon.

GBl "v" CzechlNorway (com­bined side) .. Won 5-2. The Czech NO.1 Povazan a big hitting player caused us great problems and he beat both Perry and Joel, although Perry was unlucky losing 18, -15, -20, luckily for us the other Czech player and the Norwegian player were not as strong and we came out comfortable winners.

GBl 'v' Turkey...Won 5-2/ The Turkish NO.1 David Kumru turned out to be an incredible player with a tremendous all round game often retrieving balls beyond the rear barriers and coming in with big hits, he was a really entertaining player to watch particularly as his personality was as big as his game and his shouts and screams would reverber­ate around the hall. He beat Melvyn

and Perry proved to be the hero's here both winning their three matches with all the matches being very competitive.

This last win made GBl the winners of their group and therefore through to the semi finals of the team event to play the surprise runners-up in the other group.

GB2 'v' ItalylHoliand (combined side)... Won 5-2. Here we had the two Italians playing with the Dutch boy Jonah Kahn and what a player he proved to be recording the only two wins for the combined side crushing both Paul and Morris as easily as our boys had crushed the Italians. Clearly Jonah was going to be the player to beat or so we thought.

GB2 'v' Denmark... Won 5-0. Our young team totally demolished what appeared on paper to be a pretty good Danish side.

GB2 'v' Austria... Won 6-2. Once again a country had a very good NO.1 player in this instance it was Davidov. He was an extremely good

THE SQUAD Stuart Greenberg Mark Dare Lawrence Blaston

MENS TEAM: Perry Somers Melvyn Waldman Joel Roodyn .. Morris Greenberg Dov Katz .... Paul Jablon ..

LADIES TEAM: Talya Greenberg Joanne Solley . Joanna Jablon Lisa Kaplan ..

JUNIOR BOYS TEAM: Simeon Zeffert Simon Jablon Mark Hilton ... Robert Lazarus David Seal ..

JUNIOR GIRLS TEAM: Charlene White . Suzanne Karter

..................... Manager ..... Coach

.. Assistant Manager

Herts Middx Middx Herts

.. Middx Middx

....... Herts ........ Middx

.... Middx .............. Middx

Middx . Middx

...... Middx Middx

.. Middx

. Newcastle Newcastle

in a great game 14, -13, -21 and he also beat Perry 15, -13, -10 to record Turkey's two wins. Again luckily the other two Turks were not as strong and Joel Perry and Melvyn beat them comfortably.

GBl "v" Switzerland... Won 5-0. The Swiss were perhaps the weakest players in the tournament and our men were not extended.

GBl "v" Germany 2... Won 6-2. This was the German second team and a very strong team it was comprising Billy Jaschikowitz, Ari Osterer and Peter Bisitzki. Melvyn

loop drive player and if in the lead very difficult to rattle and he proceeded to beat both Morris and Dav winning the two matches for his country. Once again his compatriots luckily for us were not up to his standard and they were seen off easily by our boys.

GB2 "v' Germany 1... .Lost 5-0. Leo Weiss losing 17, -16, -14. Morris had a tremendous game with Guisman losing -19, 20 in a big hitting display by both players and Dav showed his mounting maturity by losing to Berger -14, -18 a fine

defensive player with a big hit to any loose ball.

This last match made GB2 the surprise runners-up in their group and to our delight meant that GBl had to play GB2 in the semi final ensuring that each team would win either a bronze or possibly a gold or silver.

The other semi final saw Germany 1 play Germany 2 with the first team winning 5-0 to then reach the final against the winners of the all Great Britain match.

What a match our two GB sides put on. Our very young GB 2 side of 19 year old Morris and Paul with 17 year old Dav had really geared themselves up. Morris and Perry put up a tremendous match with Perry edging through 22, -14, 19. Melvyn narrowly beat Dav in the third and Joel beat Paul in two very tight games. Then Morris again in a terrific match beat Melvyn 19 and 20 and Dav playing very fast beat Joel 14 and 16. Perry then in a tight game beat Paul 15. -15, 16. Perry then beat Dov 18 and 19 and Melvyn beat Paul 18 and 18. GBl therefore won 6-2 in an emotionally draining game with all the games very tight.

The final therefore saw Germany 1 'v" Great Britain 1. There is always a great atmosphere when these countries clash and so it was again. The first match between Perry and Weiss was perhaps the most important one for us, we needed to win it, however it was not to be for no matter what Perry did Leo the lion pulling out every gamesmanship trick he knew just edged it winning 17, -14, -15. Guisman was just to strong for Joel winning -4, 14. Melvyn tried like anything against the defensive master Berger but just could not break through and lost -16, -20. Perry then got hit off by Guisman -11, -13. Melvyn then played superbly to beat Weiss 18, ­1917. Melvyn brought back memories of his great days Joel then lost to Berger -16, -12 giving the Germans a 5-1 win and the gold medal.

The final mens team results were:

Germany 1 .......... Gold Great Britain 1 . . Silver Great Britain 2 .. . Bronze Germany 2 .. .. Bronze

JUNIOR BOYS TEAM EVENT

IT should be mentioned that for reasons best known to them, the organisers decided that the juniors should be under 16 years of age and not 17 years a per the ITTF rules. Therefore Dov Katz narrowly missed playing in the jUniors which is why he was playing in the senior squad.

We had 2 and a half teams in this event with a GBl side of Simeon Zeffert and Simon Jablon, a GB2 side

PAGE 26

of Mark Hilton and Robert Lazarus not able to give his support and combined brilliantly with Lisa to Win Upon carrying out the draw it and David Seal partnered a Turk1sh Davie was really having to play these the doubles 19 and 18. was discovered that there were 31 boy Kohen in a combined side. matches by himself. He was unlucky GB2 'v' Austria....Won 3-1. This players in the event and the question

There were six teams in this to lose to Bergmann -13, 16, -19. was an excellent Win against these was raised around the hall if there event and it was decided to hold it GBfI'urkey 'v' Germany 1.. .. Lost strong Austrian girls. Jo lost to Lazar was perhaps a manager that could as one group with the top three 3-0. Once again David was playing -16, 6, -19. Lisa then thrashed Adler play to make up a 32 draw. Yours teams Winning the three medals. very well only just losing to Vitzer 13 and 4. Our girls won the doubles truely was therefore drafted into the

GBl 'v' GBfI'urkey... Won 3-0. 19, -18, -14. 19 and 15 and then Lida playing event to find myself in my first round Young David put up a sterling GBfI'urkey 'v' Germany 2... Won brilliant table tennis beat Lazar 18, ­ match to play Brainine. performance against Simeon 3-0. This was a great result and one 18, 18. Yes, I lost to him by scores of ­unluckily losing only 19 and 19, but David particularly richly deserved GB3 'v' Austrla....Lost 3-0. Our 12, -10. But I have to say there is the Turk1sh boywas:rounced by with him beating Kern 17 and 20 and girls tried hard but lost to this very absolutely no doubt he could have Simon, and Simon and Simeon easily carrying his partner Kohen to Win the good side comfortably. beaten me -0, -0, he most certainly won the doubles to take the match. doubles and Kohen amazingly GB3 'v' Germany/Czech....Lost 3­ gave me the points and convinced

GBl 'v' Germany 2....won 3-0. somehow Winning his singles. O. Once again our girls tried hard me that he was a very great player Both Simon and Simeon played The final mens team results were: against opponents who were just to indeed. tremendous stuff to thrash this rather Great Britain 1 Gold strong for them. Other British results were: good German second team. Germany 1 Silver The final team results were: Joel Roodyn lost his first round to

GBl 'v' Denmark... Won 3-0. Great Britain 2 Bronze Germany/Czech Gold Bisitzki (Germany) 13, -12, -15. Once again Simeon and Simon won Denmark Bronze Great Britain 1 Silver Melvyn lost first round to this match effortlessly beating what Great Britain 2 Bronze Davidov (Austria) -15, -18. was actually quite a useful Danish What was also nice was that it Dov Katz lost most unluckily to side. was decided to give David a bronze (only three medals given) Osterer -20, -22.

GBl 'v" GB2... Won 3-0. AB one medal as he really was part of Great This left only Perry Somers, can imagine a little bit of bite with Britain's second team and deservedly Morris Greenberg and Paul Jablon asMENS SINGLES

so. our only Winners in the first round THIS was the much anticipated

this match but apart from a good effort by Mark Hilton against Simeon Perry beating a Turk rather easily

event particularly with the first entry losing 16 and 20 one which the first LADIES TEAM and Paul and Morris each beating a competitively on the tables of the team never looked like losing. Dane just as handily.

GBl 'v" Germany 1...Won 3-2. EVENT Russian Brainin. The second round saw Morris up This was the big one and what a WE had three teams in this event against Brainine. Morris played asAfter much discussion the eight

match it turned out to be with which was a two side CorbiIlon cup. well as I have ever seen him but theseeds were as follows:

Simeon and Simon playing literally GBl comprised Talya Greenberg and Russian is a genuine world class 1 Brainine Russiaout of their skins to Win the match Joanne Solley, GB2 comprised player and won again easily by 2 Guisman Germanyand the gold medal in an electrlc Joanna Jablon and Lisa Kaplan and scores of 13 and 14. 3 Kahn Hollandatmosphere. First simon went on to GB3 comprised our two junior girls Paul put up a tremendous fight 4 Weiss Germanydemolish the German NO.2 Vitzer 10, Charlene White and Suzanne Karter against the Dutchman Kahn before 5 Kurnru Turkey10. Then Simeon played the best who were allowed to play in the going down -17, -18.

table tennis I have ever seen him senior event as there were so few Perry was our lone winner in this 6 Berger Germany 7 Osterer Germany round beating Joel's conquerer play to beat the German NO.1 junior girls and it was decided that to

Johnen, a 15 year old boy about 6'6' participate and gain experience was tall and who looked at least 18 years important. old and with the power to match. Once again we were slightly The noise was deafening as Simeon unlucky with the junior birth date came through -21, 14, 17. Then again rule because Talya missed playing in in a tension filled match our boys lost the junior events by one week. their first match in the doubles going There were five teams in this down 20, -6, -18. Simon then came event and it was decided to play it as on against Johnen and found him one group. just that bit to powerful losing -16, GBl 'v' GB2 .. Won 3-0 . AB 16. The final match saw Simeon expected this was actually a very immediately see off Vitzer 9, 10 for tight match, with Jo Solley beating us to take the gold. Joanna Jablon -9, 17, 17. Talya

GB2 'v' Germany 1....Lost 4-1. beating Lisa 18, -21, 9 and the first The highlight of this match was team Winning the doubles 14, -20, young Roberts superb Win over 13. Vitzer 17,14 and the doubles which our boys were so very unlucky in GBl 'v' Austria....won 3-0. This losing, 15, -10, 21. was an excellent Win with both our

GB2 'v' GBfI'urkey.... Won 3-0. girls playing well against strong David Seal decided he was going to opposition. Jo beat Adler 13 and take on his two Brltish counterparts 14, Talya beat Lazar 17, -16, 17 and by himself as he really had to do as our girls Winning the doubles 16 his partner was outclassed. David and 18. Was unlucky to lose -17, 9,17 to GBl 'v' Germany/Czech....Lost Robert and virtually played the 3-2. This combination side turned doubles by himself to go down 11, ­ out to be extremely strong, but did 19, 12. our girls try, no one could have

GB2 'v' Germany 2... Won 3-0. tried harder as the scores suggest; This was an excellent result with Jo beat the Czech girl Krausova ­Robert and Mark playing above 19, 20, 18. Talya then lost to the themselves to Win their three German girl BeWowski 19, -17, 18. matches with comparltive ease. Our girls won the doubles 14, -18,

GB2 "v' Denmark....Lost 3-0. In 15. Jo then lost to BeWowski 16, ­many ways this match could have 19, -15 and Talya lost to Krausova ­gone the same score to us for our 11, -19. boys came so close, Robert losing to GBl 'v' GB3... Won 3-0. This an Fish, -20, -18. Mark losing to expected match score easily won Bergmann ??? -19 and losing the by our first team. doubles -12, -25. GB2 'v' GB3 ... Won 3-0. This

GB2 played above themselves to again an expected match score take the bronze medal and deserv­ easily won by the second team ed�y so, with Germany 1 taking the GB2 "v" Germany./Czech....Lost silver. 3-1. Jo was playing very well to

GBfI'urkey 'v' Denmark....Lost 3­ only just be edged out by O. Unfortunately for David Kohen was BeWowski 16, -14, -21 and she then

8 Somers Great Britain Bisitzki 16, 16.

-------1---------­ENGLISH TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION

APPO/lVTMENT

FULL TIME REGIONAL TABLE TENNIS DEVELOPMENT OFFICER (YORKSHIRElHUMBERSIDE)

Initially a three year appointment (anticipated Slart date I st January 1992) to organise and co-ordinate the development of Table Tennis within the Yorkshirel Humberside Region with panicular emphasis on young people. and the creation of additional table tennis facilities.

Salary will be on liIe scale of £13,332 - £17.017 and is an all hours worked post Likely to be office based in Leeds.

The successful candidate is likely to possess the following: -Proven organising/administrative ability (preferably in sport) -Effeclive communication and negotialing skills -High level ofselfmotivation and mobility -Experience of sports development -Understanding of lable lennis - Full DriYing Ucence

Closing date for applications: 20th November 1991

Job description and application form available from:

Diccon Gray (National DeYelopment Manager), English Tabu Tennis Association,

Queensbury House, Hayelock Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN341HF

Tel: 0424 722525 FlU: 0424 422103

An eqUilI opportunities post funded by the Sports Council and the English Table Tennis Association

PAGE 27

The quarter final saw Perry up agalnst Bralnine who again won comfortably 11, 16.

Another quarter final match in an explosive atmosphere saw Kumru see off Weiss 19 in the third, With both players shouting and screaming to the joy of the spectators.

The semi final line up saw Bralnine against Kumru and Kahn against Guisman.

Brainine seemed to toy With Kumru before winning 19 and 11.

The other semi final was a real anti climax after their scintilating match in the team event everyone expected another great match. However the Dutchman visibly fell apart losing very easily to the competent German 14 and 14.

The tinal became to an extent therefore the expected one With Brainine against Guisman but who could have predicted the result?

Again there was a complete contrast of styles and physigue. The lean powerful flamboyant Brainine and the small bouncy buzzsaw and quick hitting Guisman.

I feel sure if a sweepstake had taken place before the match 100% would have gone for Brainine, however GUisman ran out the winner in a disappointing match 17, -14, 17.

MENS CONSOLATION

SINGLES AN all British final here saw Melvyn Waldman lose to Dav Katz 25, -17, 15.

LADIES SINGLES THE event was divided into two groups on an all play all basis and the tinal four positions were:

Krausova (Czech) . Jo Solley (Great Britain Talya Greenberg (GB) BeWowski (German)

. Gold Silver

Bronze Bronze

Some good British results were, Lisa beating Adler (Austria) 11 and 16. Also only just losing to BeWowski 15, -13, -13.

Talya beating BeWowski 15 and 19.

Jo Solley was extremely unlucky to lose to the Winner Krausova -16, 16, -20. She also had a real fight With Jo Jablon Winning -16, 16, 19.

The semi finals saw Jo Solley v Talya Greenberg and Krausova against BeWowski

Jo overcame Talya in a nail biting match, -18, 15, 13. Krausova beat the German girl-II, 19, 16 and then beat Jo again 16 and 7.

JUNIOR GIRLS SINGLES

IT transpired that there were enough girls for an event on a group basis but to every ones surprise it turned out that Krausova and Adler were juniors. Krausova proceeded to Win the event beating Adler in the final game 14 and 19 but not before our two girls Charlene and Suzanne had taken the bronze positions.

So the tinal positions were: 1 Krausova Gold

2 Adler . ... Silver 3 White Bronze 4 karter Bronze

JUNIOR BOYS SINGLES

THE first round saw two of our players lose. Robert lost in a very tight match to the German NO.2 Vitzer -12,18, -18. Mark lost to Spennadl (Austria) -18, 8.

The next round saw the demise of David to the German NO.1 Johnen -14, -10. Simon beat Spennadl 16 and 10 and Simeon beat Vitzer 17 and 15. In an emotion filled match Simon lost to Johnen in the semi final -16, -13 whilst Simeon lost in an upset to Nagy (Austria) -19, -17. The final saw Johnan beat Nagy two straight to take the gold.

The final positions were therefore: Johnan (Germany) .. . Gold Nagy (Austria) . . Silver Simon Jablon Bronze Simeon Zeffert Bronze

The two Austrians had not played in the junior team event playing in the senior event instead.

MENS DOUBLES WE partnered Perry and Melvyn

together, Morris and Joel and Paul and Dov.

The first round saw Perry and Melvyn lose to Osterer/Bisitzki (Germany) -17, -20. Morris and Joel had a poor draw having to play Brainine/Berger and lost -7, -11. The win of the round for us came With Fox and Paul who played brilliantly to beat the good partnership of Kahn (Holland}/Davivdov (Austria) 15 and 23. They unfortunately could not keep that standard up and lost in the next round to Weiss/Guisman -7, -11.

The final was the expected one with Brainine/Berger against Weiss/ Guisman with again perhaps surprisingly Weiss/Guisman winning -14, 17,21 in a great game.

So the final positions were: Weiss/Guisman . . Gold Brainine/Berger Silver Jablon/Katz Bronze

LADIES DOUBLES OUR pairings were, TalyalJo

Solley, Jo Jablon/Lisa and Charlene/ Suzanne.

The semi tinals saw both our top two pairs competing in with Talya and Jo beating the Austrian pair of Adler/Lazar 11 and 11. In the other semi tinal Jo and Lisa lost to the Czech/German pairing of Krausoval BelliJowski in a tremendous match ­17,23, -19.

The tinal saw Talya and Jo combine brillantly to smash their rivals 17 and 12 to take the gold.

So the final positions were: Talya Greenberg/Jo Solley. ..... Gold BeWowskilKrausova .. Silver Jo Jablon/Lisa Kaplan . . Bronze AdlerlLazar .. . Bronze

MIXED DOUBLES OUR pairings here were: Melvyn/ Lisa, TalyalPerry, Jo JablonlMorris, Jo Solley/Joel, CharleneIPaul and Dov/Suzanne.

All of our pairs played well together and one early round win of note saw Morris and Jo beat Osterer/ Krausova 18, -8, 21. The semi final line up saw JoeVJo against Guisman/ BeWowski and Morris/Jo against TalyalPerry.

Perhaps in one of the great British wins of the tournament Joel and Jo played great stuff to beat the favoured Germans 17 and 14 in a crushing display. No praise is high enough for them in this display.

The other semi final saw Talya and Perry beat Morris and Jo 13 and 11.

The final as expected was very tight With both pairs knowing each others game but Talya and Perry coming through -16, 15, 21 to take the gold.

The final positions in an event that became dominated by the British were: TalyalPerry ... Gold JoeVJo .. Silver Morris/Jo Bronze GuismanIBeWowski Bronze

JUNIOR BOYS DOUBLES WE paired Simeon/Simon, Roberti Mark and David With his Turkish friend Kohen.

David and Kohen lost first round as did Robert and Mark to the Austrians Nagy/Spannadl but in a very close set 15, -13, ·19.

Simon and Simeon reached the semi final to play FishIDammas (Denmark) and cam through 17 and 8 to play JohnanNitzer the Germans in the final.

Playing great stut! Simeon and Simon beat the Germans to win the gold 18 and 15. So the tinal positions were: Simeon/Simon Gold JohnanNitzer Silver DammaslFish . . Bronze

FINAL MEDAL TALLY BY GREAT BRITAIN

MENS TEAM EVENT Silver GBI (SomerslWaldmanRoodyn) Bronze GB2 (Greenberg/Jablon/Katz) LADIES TEAM EVENT Silver GBI (Greenberg/Solley) Bronze GB2 (JablonlKaplan) BOYS TEAM EVENT Gold GBI (Zeffert/Jablon) Bronze GB2 (Lazarus/Hilton) MENS DOUBLES Bronze (Katz/Jablon) LADIES SINGLES Silver (Jo Solley) Bronze (Talya Greenberg) LADIES DOUBLES Gold (Solley/Greenberg) Bronze (Jablon/Kaplan) BOYS SINGLES Bronze (Simeon Zet!ert) Bronze (Simon Jablon) BOYS DOUBLES Gold (ZeffertlJablon) MIXED DOUBLES Gold (SomersITalya Greenberg) Silver (Jo SolleylRoodyn) Bronze (Morris Greenburg/Jo Jablon) JUNIOR GIRLS SINGLES Bronze (Charlene White) Bronze (Suzanne Karter) MENS CONSOLATION SINGLES Winner (Dov Katz) RIU (Melvyn Waldman)

_______11_,------__ ENGLISH TABLE TENNIS ASSOCIAnON

APPOINTMENT

PART·TIME REGIONAL STAFF COACH (YORKSHIRElHUMBERSIDE)

Initially a three year appointment (anticipated Slarl date 1st January 1992) aimed at the organisation of coaching and coach eduction to all sections of the community and at all levels within the Yorkshire/Humberside Region.

Pay and hours to be agreed.

The successful candidate will work closely with the full-time table tennis Development Officer and is likely to possess the following:

·Proven organising/administrative ability (preferably in Sparr) -Effective communication skills -ETTA Coach Qualification -Understanding oftable tennis - Full Driving Licence Closing date for applications 20tb November 1991

Job description and application forms available from:

Diccon Gray, (National Development Manager), Queensbury House, Havelock Road, Hastings,

East Sussex TN34lHF Tel: 0424 722525 Fax: 0424 422103

An equal opportunities post funded by the Sports Council and the English Table Tennis Association

PAGE 28

Green freeze spray

Ralgex freeze spray

A NEW freeze spray which is claimed to provide up to four hours relief is being marketed under the name of Ralgex.

According to the manufacturers Smithkline Beecham, it will enable players with minor injuries to finish their game before getting further treatment.

It is also the first freeze spray to go 'Green'. The CFC's which create the cooling effect, but which are burning away our atmosphere, have been removed.

New deal from Halex

HALEX, the major sponsors of the ETTA (English Table Tennis Association) are set to expand their commitment to the sport with a new deal.

Originally Halex contributed more than £6,000 to cover the Under 10, Under 11, Under 12 English Table Tennis Champion­ships and the Halex ETTA National Table Tennis Ranking Scheme.

Further to the success of the sponsorship programme Halex's Managing Director, Merrick Wolman, has announced that more investment will be put forward into the Under 18 and Under 21 National Championships to be held in May '92 in addition to the Under 10, 11 and 12 to be held in Spring next year.

Sports Action

FUJIFILM has joined forces with Britain's leading professional sports photographers to produce a superb 1992 Wallchart to support the charity Sports Aid Foundation.

The Wallchart features action shots from different sports, taken by members of the Professional Sports Photographers Association, and it can be yours for just £2.99 (including P&P) as a special offer to Table Tennis News readers (normal price £3.99).

The Sports Aid Foundation (President: HRH The Duchess of York) provides much-needed assistance to competitors living in the United Kingdom, who have the potential and enthusiasm to succeed in sport but who lack the means to develop their ability. FujifiJm will give half of the proceeds to SAF.

The get your Wallchart, send a cheque for £2.99, made payable to Fuji Photo Film (UK) Ltd., to Sports Aid Foundation Wallchart Offer, PO Box 1320, Swindon SNl 4TJ, and you will receive your 1992 Wallchart. Please allow 28 days for delivery.

Champion Coaching

Project TABLE Tennis is one of 11 sports to be selected for a Champion Coaching project.

Champion Coaching has been put together by the National Coaching Foundation and is aimed at developing the sport in the 11-14 age group.

Coaches will attend a residential weekend course at Lilleshall and our contact is Stuart Sneyd, the ETTA's deputy chalrman.

Butterfly's domination

FIGURES just published from the World Table Tennis Champion­ships show Butterfly's strong domination of the international table tennis scene.

Of the 700 or so players representing their national teams 52% used Butterfly rubber sheets on their bats compared with 17% and 13% respectively supplied by the highest other leading manufac­turers.

Butterfly's most popular rubber, Sriver, was used by Carl Prean and Alan Cooke, while Chen Xinhua,

Matthew Syed and English womens champion Andrea Holt used Butterfly Tackiness and Long Feint pimpled rubber in the Championships.

Butterfly were also well ahead in the blades chart. A total of 44% of the players used Butterfly blades with the second most popular brand recording 24% and the third 9%.

Nationwide Sports

PLAYRITE Sports, down and out last season, have re-emerged under a new name - NationWide Sports Part of the Worldwide Business Corporation, it will be run from its original address in Chiltern Drive, Surbiton by former Playrite man Brian Windett.

Connie Warren

ONCE a table tennis supplier.. Connie Warren is the latest to come back from the Playrite plunge. He informs TTN that he has started a mail order business tram his home in Purley.

A sporting Christmas

from Halex

THE Halex range of sport­ing equipment provides a wide selection of ideal gifts for both the professional and serious player at club level or for the enthusiastic amateur.

Top of the table tennis ball range is the 3-Star Ultra Tournament Ball, approved by the Interna­tional Table Tennis Federa­tion and the English Table Tennis Association and available in both 6 Ball Boxes and hanging blister packs (recommended retail prices £4.99 and £5.49 respectively). Aimed at offering family fun at home, the Halex 2 player Table Tennis Set (recommended retail price £8.99) is right on the ball.

The less competitive player should seek out the Halex Meteor Practice Ball which retails at 99p for a 6 Ball Box and £1.25 for a 6 Ball blister pack particularly suitable for children as they conform to EEC safety regulations. Alternatively, they can be purchased loose over the counter for 15p each. The range also includes 2-Star and l-Star celluloid balls.

There's a variety of table tennis bats to choose from and all in attractive new packaging with euroslot hanging facility such as the 3-Star Bat (recommended retail price £9.99) through to the Practice Bat (recom­mended retail price £1.99). Other bats in the range include the 2-Star (recom­mended retail price £6.99), 1 -Star (RRP £3.99) and Halex Meteor Bat (RRP £2.99).

PAGE 29

Butlin's boy of the week COLIN WILSON, now aged 29, reflects on twenty years in table tennis. COUN has recently returned to table tennis as a professional player/coach, after a gap of five years. In a career spanning from age 9-23 years, Colin always played a foremost role on the competitive circuit, from Butlin's Boy-of-the-Week at age 9 to England Cadet NO.1 and through to England Junior No.1 before joining the Senior ranks.

"I loved my time as a budding junior playing" says Colin, who began at Mertor T.T.C. in Bournemouth until moving to North London's Ellenborough T.T.C. at age 14. "I played almost every evening, weekend and holiday for about ten years. I played with big brother (Steve) and Dad (Terry) and in local and national groups and teams." Colin competed in five consecutive European Youth Championships, a record surpassed only by Carl Prean. 'Even on my birthday I just wanted 'to go for a knock'."

At age 18, Colin played whilst at University College, London, where he spent three years, and gained a honours degree in Economics and Statistics. From 1979 to 1982 Colin progressed on a Senior Interval, winning 2 silver medals at the Commonwealth Champi­onships and two bronze at the

Israel Open.

Poorly paicl ''It was at this stage that I

became interested in coaching as I studied technique more deeply. Also] became conscious that table tennis was poorly paid unless you were in the top three in England, so career considera­tions grew in importance. "After University I played full time, and helped run some coaching camps and organised my own sessions to pay my expenses. For two summers I trained and learned in Sweden with John Souter, which was invaluable for the experience. I reached England NO.I0 in the 1985/86 season but I gradually became more aware of the pour prospects available to the pool of full-time players in England. Sometimes it seemed that table tennis was a lowly sport without the will or ability to improve its own status. Without a pool of

PAGE 30

Colin Wilson

15-20 professionals making a reasonable living, England could not, and still cannot truly compete in depth with the rising Asian and European challengers:"

At this time Colin decided that he needed the experience and stimulation offered by the world of business. He helped to build a ga:age workshop business 'Mark One Motors' with great T.T. friend Mark Mitchell, also an ex-Interna­tional, now aged 34. Further experience in sales of motor vehicles, skin products and motor trade products helped Colin to buy his first home and act as consultant for other small businesses. "] love the challenge of building businesses and adding value" says Colin. "As in sport, you work hard, and you win some and you lose some, but as long as you're always striving to improve, you can never really lose. You get better and better, which is good for everybody involved."

Colin finished a business project in August, 'and I became interested in table tennis again.' For three years he had another sporting diversion ­

hot air ballooning! "A wonderful, fun sport" says Colin, now a qualified pilot. "I used to be scared of heights but it's not a problem now! The challenge is in flying and landing safely. So far, so good!"

This season Colin has expanded his coaching activi­ties and is training too. He has already beaten Jon Holland (England No.12) and won all six of his matches in the County Premier Weekend for Middlesex.

"What's needed now is the desire in England to build clubs of excellence, like they do in

Europe and Scandinavia. In these countries the clubs exist to become the best in depth of standard, from under 10's to National League winners. This has already been achieved at Grove and Peniel who have made dramatic progress. I admire their drive and enthusi­asm. They are well organised and driven by Ian Marshall and Michael Reid, and both have top professional coaches, John Souter and Nicky Jarvis."

"The clubs must lead the Association towards excellence" says Colin "not the other way round. Pressure and enthusiasm from clubs of excellence will spur the Association to better organisation, better events, better publicity, better sponsor­ship, better funding and a greater desire and vision of national success. After all, the Association is the clubs in each league.'

"From this base there is room for at least 15-20 professional players to earn a reasonable living from their sporting excellence. Later in their careers they can train youngsters on a commercial basis, who in turn can see the rewards of success from a young age."

"If we have a Grove or Peniel in every town, table tennis would be a stronger, more vibrant sport with lucrative rewards and status for top players. For the Association and its enthusiastic members, it's as difficult and as simple as that.'

"My plans? I love table tennis and] love business. I'm available and I want to help make table tennis happen."

Colin Wilson was talking to John Wood

Colin Wilson BSc (Econ), PPL (B) Currently available for part-time/full-time contract and consultancy work in table tennis.

COACHING TRAINING FOR SUCCESS

CLUB DEVELOPMENT PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Contact Colin at: 25 Brookside Crescent, Cuffley, Herts. ENG 4QW

Southern Region by Brian Lamerton

40 youngsters risked the Macken and Mark Giles (All roadworks which attempts to Ha.) and Mathew Sims (Ox.). make Southampton an Island There were 4 hat tricks in the these days to compete in the opening matches in this preliminary regional trials on season's regional league. Tony September 15th. Taylor on his debut for Burnham

Caroline Newling-Ward against K.C.D. Stiga 'A' and (Ha.), Wendy Barlow and Lucy Mark Priddle in OLOP's narrow Templeton (both Bu.) qualified win over Cippenham in the for the junior national finals Premier and in the first division whilst the following boys for Roger Hookey of the Isle of qualified to return to the same Wight who defeated Cippenham Southampton venue in Novem- 'B' and Roger Woolven-Allen ber for the final regional trials. whose Kingfisher team were CADETS: Greg Burns (IW), defeated 5-4 by Kingfisher 'B'. Andrew Jenkins and Gareth Title holders Cippenham Scadden (both Ha.), Steven opened the ladies league season Munson, Edward Donovan. with a 5 sets to love success JUNIORS: Jeremy Wilson, Devin over the Isle of Wight.

ASouth West Region

by Alf Pepperd

r------------------, LION SPOT THE

DIFFERENCE THE first three correct entries drawn from the hat will win, 1st a Lion insulated bat case, 2nd a Lion bat case and 3rd a box of Lion 3 star balls.

All entries must be received by 20th November 1991 ad­dressed to Bethan Davies at Hastings. (Editor's decision is final).

In this issue's 'Lion Spot the Difference' competition you are required to circle with a pen the 10 deliberate differences in Cartoon B.

Below are the lucky winners in the October 1991 competition: 1st Mr. R. Green, 19 Torcross Road, South Ruislip,Middx 2nd Mr. I. Wong, Celia Marsh House, Headington School, Oxford 3rd Miss E. May, 3 Almond Drive, Plympton, Devon

Name:

Address:

L J

THE SWR preliminary trials held at Wellington Somerset in mid­September could well have been a disaster.

15 minutes, after the arrival of the Head Referee Dave Nipper, Dave received an urgent phone call to inform him that his Mother had passed on earlier on that very morning, of course he departed for horne immediately.

This columnist, and all concerned at that Tournament extend our deepest heartfelt sympathy to Dave Nipper and his family.

However, despite this tragic happening, Peter Buckingham a student coach, studying maths at Oxford, took over the hot seat vacated by Dave Nipper and saw the day through, much to the relief of Chief Organiser ­Valerie Clack (Chairman SWR Coaching).

Another worthy helper on the day, and there were so many, was Fred Ingram from Cornwall, the only qualified umpire in the hall who acted as floor referee throughout the Tournament.

The following Juniors/Cadets have qualified for the next round of trails at Wellington on the 10th of November. CADET GIRLS: Nickie Bryson (Do.), Claire Shobbrok (Som.), Racheal Rosewell (Av.), Lucy Perry (Dv.), Kerry Hogarth (Gs.), Debby King (WL), Ann Humble (Gs.), Jessica Orlick (Av.), Lissy McDonald (Av. 1st Reserve), Emma Price (Av. 2nd Reserve).

CADET BOYS: Andrew umary (Som.), Peter Thomas (Dv.), Ross McDonald (Av.), Tim O'Mahoney (WL), Matthew Pullin (Av.), Graham Worth (Co.), Graham Long (Av.), Kevin Worth (Co.), Simon Rooke (lst Reserve), J. Seale (Co. 2nd Reserve). JUNIOR GIRLS: Tracy Youldon (WL), Kerry Hogarth (Gs.), Debbie King (WL), Kate Gent (Som.), Rachel Boon (Co.), Julie Ashcroft (Som.), Lisa Morrish (Dv.), Kelly Sampson (WL), Emma Parker (Gs. 1st Reserve), Nicola Grey (C. 2nd Reserve). JUNIOR BOYS: Colin Butterworth (Av), Stuart Fry (WL), Philip Lord (Dv.). Robert Millard (Som.), Simon Dilkes (Dv.), Mark Smith (Som.), Barry Fudge (Av.), Leigh Nelmes (Gs.), Martin Smith (Av. Reserve)

The Trials attracted a total entry of 85 players.

After a spell in Musgrave Park Hospital in Taunton, for a minor operation, I am delighted to report that Somerset's former ETTA National Councillor, Tony Carey is now out of hospital and hopefully well on the way to total recovery.

Tony, informs me that he has now qualified as a senior coach and has been asked to head a team of local coaches, including Claire Hunter from Swindon and Chris Bridges of Bristol in a National Coaching Foundation Project - called Championship Sport. And finally. many thanks to Valerie Clack and Kevin Satchell for giving me BBC Radio Gloucestershire South & West Interviews at the trials at Wellington.

PAGE 31

Polka dots and chequerboard AT a recent 5 star tournament there was some discussion between umpires and the referee about the legality of some shirts. Briefly, there are now few restrictions on clothing; the main part of the shirt, shorts or skirt must not be of the same colour as the ball in use. Apart from this, clothing may be of any colour or colours, the collar and sleeves of a shirt and trimming along side seams or round edges and pockets may be of any colour, including the colour of the ball in use.

Clothing may be of any pattern, but must not bear symbols or lettering that might cause offence or bring the game into disrepute. The referee decides. Polka dots and chequerboard etc. are accept­able, and the old 'stripes' definition is not now relevant.

Covering the racket

There seems to be some misconception about the necessary covering of the racket, probably arising from the requirements in international competitions that one side of the racket blade must be red and the other side must be black. This regulation has been adopted very widely, even down to local league level, instead of the more simple requirement that the blade must be uni­formly dark coloured and matt.

However, the regulation does not say that one side must be covered with red rubber and the other side with black rubber. Law 3.4.3. says "A side of the blade used for striking the ball shall be covered " The phrase in Law 3.4.6. " a side of the blade if it is left uncov­ered...." emphasises the fact that a penholder may elect not to cover the side of the racket that he does not use to strike the ball. nevertheless, if the international regulation 4.2.1.3. has been adopted, one side of the racket must be bright red and the other side black. So one side may have to be painted or dyed red or black depending whether the rubber on the other side is black or red respectively. If a player strikes the ball with the painted or dyed side he loses the point.

We say again that, in spite of what is said in some current trade literature, if you don't use one side of the blade for striking the ball, you don't have to cover it with expensive rubber if you don't want to. A disgusting habit For some reason, which it is

PAGE 32

Hertfordshire's Di Jermyn

difficult to fathom, some players have taken to spitting on the floor and rubbing their feet in it if they make up their mind that the floor is "slippery". Not only is this a revolting habit which may be dealt with under the regulations concerning "Behav­iour of Players" likely to offend spectators, but a moment's consideration would indicate that the effect could last only a few seconds or a couple of steps, and is therefore not worth the effort in the first place. It would be better if this habit was eliminated from the scene.

Referees Congratulations are in order for Tony Chatwin, Richard Scruton and Doug Young who have recently passed the written part of the International Referees examination.

If this exam leads to a more consistent worldwide interpreta­tion and application of laws and regulations, will we in this country have to change some of our views? No doubt this will provide food for thought.

Name badges Everybody will know us soon. National and International umpires are to have name badges.

Umpire's dash Dave Edwards stepped in at the eleventh hour to deputise for a sick Di Jermyn at the England v Japan match at Bletchley.

Umpire selections Umpires have been selected for forthcoming events as follows:­

lRJNGARIAN OPEN November 14-17 - W.F. Lavis (leader), G. Taylor, K Pentland (reserve)

SWEDISH OPEN November 28-December 1 M. Strode (leader), H. Willis, D.A. Poultney (reserve)

JUNIOR PREMIER WEEKEND November 30-December 1 A. Harwood, T. Vance,G.G. Hammond, D. Edwards, J. Melnick, K Emecz, J. Pringle and G. Parkes

ENGLISH JUNIOR NATIONAL

December 14-15 Mrs. KJ. Wilson, D. Perry, D.A. Poultney, J. Jermyn, Mrs. D. Jermyn, D. Sherratt, Mrs. H. Masters, G.G. Hammond, F. Groom, W.F. Lavis, B. Watkins, B. Foggin, M.J. Payne, G. Taylor, J. Melnick, W. Moran, J. Evans, R. Douglas, D.A. Young and D. Roden

Old Habits Die Hard In the 1969 "Handbook for Umpires", and also in the 1974 version, it said, "Where a point is awarded for one of the following reasons the umpire should precede the score with

the appropriate words of explanation: Good service not made - "Fault" ...etc.

Later, in 1983, the "Hand­book Jor Match Officials" introduced an extra phrase: "When (a rally) is determined by some occurrence which may not be obvious to the players or spectators, the umpire is recommended to give a brief explanation....as follows: Good service not made - "Fault" ...etc.

This was further emphasised on page 32 in the September 1989 "Handbook for Match Officials", which says: "It is not, however necessary to call anything but the score when it is obvious that a player has not made a good service, such as when the ball fails to clear the net", and the phrase was slightly modified to, "Service illegal (call) Fault."

This is in accordance with the concept that the only time the umpire talks is when essential information has to be conveyed. The trouble is that some of the old established umpires have got used to calling "Fault" and still do, and since they are the senior ones whom the younger umpires tend to copy, one continues to hear the unnecessary call. So see if you can restrain (retrain) yourself, like now calling "Double bounce" instead of "Not up".

Our pen picture this month is:

Di Jermyn Hampshire had 25 active

umpires - all men. Then along came this lady

who admitted she actually enjoyed umpiring at local league matches in Gosport and Fareham.

"I'm as good as them! At least at umpiring table tennis". 'To prove a point, and out of sheer bravado, Di took and passed the County umpire test, the first rung of the umpiring ladder. Now she is one of a small band of lady international umpires. Whilst in Hampshire she was secretary of her local league and county inter-town match secretary.

In 1985, on a trip to the Isle of Man for the Commonwealth Championships, Di met John Jermyn (actually on Euston Station) and four years later they were married (both for the second time). Between them Di and John have five children, and now live in Baldock, Herts. Di is assistant league secretary for the North Herts league and plays for the Warren Spring club of Stevenage in Div. III of the North Herts League.

Olivetti sponsor Leeds

Gary Kirwood, Northern Region Sales Manager, Olivetti Systems & Networks presenting a cheque [or £50 to Sandra Rider

THIS season's dates have now been confirmed as February 29th/March 1st at Stourbridge (West Midlands) and May 16/27th at Cardiff (National Sports Centre for Wales).

It is likely that there will be only two changes from last season's final participants. World of Sports (whose Nicola Deaton will line up this time with Commonwealth all Stars) and Newcastle 2nd's have intimated that they will not be competing and their likely replacements - with some possible additional promotions to suit - will be Welsh Ladies 2nd's and 'Olivetti Leeds Bribar'. This latter team. led by Sandra Rider. has been fortunate to obtain sponsorship from Olivetti Systems & Networks who are equipment suppliers to our very good table tennis friends, The Leeds Permanent Building Society. for whom Sandra works as a secretary and represents in the Leeds table tennis league. Completing 'O.L.B.' will be Sandra's Yorkshire colleague Cathy Johnson and Helen Sheilds.

ETTA Women's coaching weekend by Jackie Bellinger

ON Friday 30th August, on what must have been one of the hottest weekends of the year, seven enthusiastic women arrived at Luton for the first Womens Coaching Weekend of the 1991 season. Accommodation was at the Sunview Guest House. Luton. recently refurbished and extremely friendly, and play at Luton Regjonal Sports Centre, which has been the venue for past English Champion­ships and National Junior/Cadet training camps. The course was run by Jackie Bellinger and players were also able to gain tips from top England Senior player Lisa Lomas who came for one day.

The Weekend programme consisted of 4 hours coaching on Saturday where all the basic strokes were covered while Sunday was spent with the more advanced technique of BIH and F/H loop, individual work and finally a tournament. This was won by Dolly Harmer, the oldest player on the course at 77!!!

Even though there were not as many players on the course as expected, it was a great success and all participants expressed their interest in attending any other womens coaching courses that the ETTA run.

PAGE 33

A Backward Step

Surely the new rule which stops European league matches as soon as one team reaches four is going to do more harm than good. Over the years how often have we all heard the cry you the players should support the National team, I personally have always tried to get to an Interna­tional match if the venue was in reasonable driving distance and I always try to take a full car load with me.

So sure enough I went to England's (jrst home match at BletchIey, from my home town Maidenhead, it was only a sixty mile drive and it was easy to reach the venue for a 7.15pm start. I knew before we left that this was expected to be an easy win, what I did not know was that I would only see four sets which incidently were all won in straight games, so it turned out I made a 120 mile round trip for just eight games of table tennis. The only consolation was that at just after 9.15pm I was able to listen on my car radio to my favourite football team Arsenal score three second half goals.

Please England if you want me and many like me to continue to support, you must insist that all Internationals are played right out. If a match is based on seven sets such as the Men's European league we want to see all seven.

Hugh Bartholomew Vice President & Past Chairman

ofMaidenhead & District ITA

Vice Chairman of Marketing, Clive Oakman explains below, hopefully satisfactorily to all concerned, with regard to the new regulation: Editor

Explanation Our first home Eurpoean League match of this season was not only a disappointment to correspondents, but also to me. I failed to interpret the new ETI'U regulation in the correct way - 'the team match shall be won by the team winning 4 individual matches' - it was not until 10 minutes before the match commenced that Milan Stencil, the Italian Team Manager pointed this out and that the implication was that the match finishes at that time.

The ETI'U explanation for the changed format is that players do not wish to play, nor spectators watch, dead rubbers - I would not disagree with that argument.

Don Parker has agreed that at any future matches where the match scores finishes 4-0 or 4-1 there will be an exhibition match featuring two England players.

Hopefully England will be playing in the Super Division next season, 4­oresults will be less likely and we should be viewing excellent matches with match results dependent on the last rubber.

I hope those of you in the Bietchley or Leeds area will have taken the opportunity to attend the England v Japan match, a full evening of 12 matchs.

Clive Oakman Vice Chairman, Marketing

PAGE 34

ThanksJackie I am just writing to say 'thank you' for making it possible for me to take part in Jackie's Course at Luton.

She really Is a super coach for all ages - (and she had 60 years between oldest and youngest this timel) and I hope there may be further similar opportunities in the future.

Dolly Harmer Leighton Buzzard, Beds

Glad to here that your still playing table tennis Dolly· Editor

Great Weekend

I have just spent a great weekend being coached by Jackie Bellinger at Luton.

I do hope that more of these weekends are arranged for the future, if so I will appreciate details.

May I suggest that more women would come if it was publicised say in the VETTS News Sheet etc. Marjorie Berge - Edgware, Middlesex

Answer to Ruth's plea

In answer to Ruth Hogg's plea on financing county teams: Our sport Is backward in money-raising, especially at county level. Table Tennis clubs on occasions raise money, like many other organisations inside and outside sport by the traditional jumble sales, car boot sales, dances, raffies, legal weekly football tickets etc.

County offiCials seem less keen to raise money by these methods. Some counties manage to get sponsors, ffi;linIy purveyors of equipment. The other alternative of course is to faise county affiliation fees. Sussex has nine teams in the county championships - the four veterans sides are not fully supported by the county, but the other five are, so the fees have to keep rising anyway to keep pace with infiation and paying for most of these teams to travel and to entertain their opponents.

Hastings is one of the most enterprising leagues in the country. They have raised a really substantial sum of money through a weekly goal-scoring football "scheme' run over some years. How they are going to use the money is till I understand, unclear. There was an idea of buying a permanent headquarters but when the price of property shot through the roof not long ago, that was shelved.

John Woodford - EasLboume

Unusual hobby I have por.sibly an unusual hobby, I collect table tennis balls. I think I have the second largest collection in England of around 360 dilferent types of balls.

I know of collectors in Holland and Germany of which I know the people from these countries comes three of the largest collections in the world.

So I had wondered whether or not there are people out there in the table tennis world who know of anyone who aiso collect table tennis balls or if in the bottom of bags, in club rooms or in your home, if you have got any balls you may think I have not got or whether anyone works in a sports shop or at a table tennis company selling table tennis equipment.

I also wonder if you know of anyone who you know from overseas who is a collector.

Thank you very much for your help.

Kevin Gowlett, Essex

Penpal needed

I'm writing as a table tennis player and as a language student at the University of Antioquia. That's why I would like to meet any of the players of your association. Specially I would like to meet Desmond Douglas.

I do no want to bother anybody, I just want to have a friendship interchange (and improve my English through letters), and if he or she really likes table tennis as I do, we will have many things to talk about.

What I want is you to mail me Desmond Douglas or somebody else's address. I would really appreciate if you could help me ant this. Jorge Laroo Columbia, Sth. America

Please send your genuine replies to Bethan Davies at Hastings - Editor

Woolly headed

Every time that I hear of an education authority which forbids competitive games on the grounds that it is bad for children to lose, my heart sinks, for here is yet another example of an attempt to instil the idea of a future life totally without consequences.

Some four or five years ago, I wrote to TTN of this then growing trend and the co"mplacency of those in authority who seemingly seek to push these willy nilly ideas.

It does appear throughout the Country in general that this woolly headed thinking is on the upward trend, and the individuals who undermine the notion of all youngsters personal responsibility should be exposed for what it is: Vicious - Self Seeking and so desperately cruel.

If allowed to gain too much momentum, even table tennis could well suffer in the not too distant future.

Alf Pepperd - Gloucestershire

Swing is Legal?

Surely we players are entitled to more information regarding the legality or otherwise of our equip­ment.

With the demJse of the Patsunl Lentec organisation the question of whether their rubbers would continue to be approved was in doubt. As a user for several years of Lentec Swing I enquired of Albert Shipley, before he left the ETI'A to work for the ITI'F, whether this rubber would maintain its approval. After consulting with the ITI'F Albert informed me that it would be legal until June 1991, after which it would no longer be legal.

Naturally I accepted this top level ruling and altogether spent around £100 experimenting with different rubbers in an attempt to find a replacement. I know that I was not alone in this respect.

Imagine my astonishment when I found that one of my first opponents in the first VETI'S tournament of the season was using Swing. I queried this later with Mike Watts, the VETI'S Secretary, himself a previous Swing devotee. Mike's immediate response was to confirm that Swing was illegal but then shortly afterwards discovered that the ITI'F fee had been paid for a further year and was therefore legal until June 1992.

There are those who argue that any ban on Swing or indeed any other rubber bearing the ITI'F logo would not stand up in a court of law. Whether this is true or not, surely players are entitled to be given the information so that they know exactly where they stand.

R.E. Etheridge Beckenham, Kent

59th ENGLISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Birmingham National Indoor Arena Thursday/Friday/Saturday 9/10/11 January 1992: Individual Events

Saturday/Sunday 11/12 January 1992: International Team Events and Veterans Saturday 11th, BBC TV Grandstand coverage. Further details from ETTA 0424 722525

Joola Men's European League Division One

ENGLAND V AUSTRIA Friday 8th November, 7.15pm

Northgate Leisure Centre Sidegate Lane West, Ipswhich

Tickets £5 Adam Baker, Tel: 0473263540

MIDLAND 3 STAR Saturday/Sunday, 9110th November

Cox Moors Wood Leisure Centre Birmingham

Brian Lloyd, Tel: 021-7452360

MIDDLESEX 3 STAR Saturday/Sunday 7/8th December Picketts Lock Centre, Edmonton

Doreen Stannard, Tel: 081-8456713

ENGLISH JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Saturday 14th December: Junior Events Sunday 15th December: Cadet Events Crystal Leisure Centre,Stourbridge,

West Midlands Julian Tee, Tel; 0424 722525

CLEVELAND 5 STAR & BUTTERFLY INTERNATIONAL

TEAM EVENT 4/5th January 1992

Thornaby Pavillion, Cleveland David Hutchinson, Tel: 0642 543738

(B) 0642 224444

ENGLAND V CHINA 7 Match Test Series

Polkyth Recreation Centre,

1 St. Austell, Cornwall Saturday 28th December, 1991

(Sponsored by Restormel Borough Council)

Littledown Centre,

2 Bournemouth Sunday 29th December, 1991

(Sponsored by Slough Estates)

3 Monday 30th December, 1991 Venue to be (lecided

Ponds Forge Leisure Centre

4 Sheffield Wednesday 1st January, 1992

(Sponsored by Sheffield City Council)

South Kesteven

5 Table Tennis Centre,

Trent Road, Grantham Thursday 2nd January, 1992

(Sponsored by South Kesteven District Council)

Gateshead Leisure Centre,

6 Gateshead Monday 6th January, 1992

(Sponsored by Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council)

Bletchley Leisure Centre,

7 Bletchley, Milton Keynes Tuesday 7th January, 1992

(Sponsored by Milton Keynes Borough Council)

Tickets and further information on all these Test Matches can be obtained from Julian Tee at the ETTA on Tel: (0424) 722525

PAGE 35